(7 


TRUE    AMERICAN; 

<; 


CONTAINING    THE 


TOGETHER    WITH    THE 


FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESSES  AND  MESSAGES 

F    ALL   THE    PRESIDENTS    OP    THE    UNITED    STATES,    FROM    1789   TO    1839; 


THE   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE,   AND  CONSTITUTIO 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  WITH  THE  SIGNERS'  NAMES  ; 


ALSO.    THE 

FAREWELL  ADDRESSES  OF  WASHINGTON  AND  JACKSON  j 

AN    ADDRESS 

TO  THE  YOUNG  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY, 

AND    A 

VARIETY   OF   OTHER    MATTER   USEFUL    AND    ENTERTAINING^ 

BY  JOSEPH  COE. 


, 

CONCORD,    N.  H. 

PUBLISHED    BY    I.   S.   BOYD. 

1840. 

*h. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1340, 
By  JOSEPH  COE, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  New  Hampshire. 



STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BT 

MORR1LL,    SILSBY,  &  Co.    CONCORD,  1C. 


PREFACE. 

-  JB^^^^^^Hit¥fe 

_ 

THE  Editor  of  this  volume  deems  it  proper  to  say  a  few  words 
to  his  readers  in  explanation  of  the  reasons  which  led  him,  after 
calm  and  mature  deliberation,  to  give  it  to  the  world. 

Its  publication  is  principally  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the 
young  men  of  our  common  country.  They  will  soon  wield  the 
destinies  and  control  the  interests  of  this  great  nation,  and  it  is 
very  important  that  their  minds  should  take  a  right  direction, 
and  be  governed  by  right  views,  right  principles,  and  right  feel- 
ings concerning  our  great  political  interests.  The  Messages  of 
our  Presidents,  and  the  other  papers  embodied  in  this  book,  are 
thought  to  be  eminently  calculated  to  produce  this  effect. 

Our  political  institutions  were  founded  by  wise  men,  and  are 
the  best,  freest,  and  safest  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Their  dura- 
bility depends  upon  the  watchful  care  of  the  people.  If  they 
shall  ever  have  to  mourn  their  overthrow,  the  primary  cause  will 
be  found  in  a  want  of  patriotic  vigilance.  The  people  must  con- 
stantly remember  that  the  great  foe  of  American  liberty  is  a 
wealthy  aristocracy.  It  has  been  and  ever  will  be,  from  time  to 
time,  the  duty  of  the  state  and  national  governments  to  check, 
by  legal  enactments,  the  influence  and  power  of  overgrown 
moneyed  corporations ;  and  it  is  the  solemn  duty  of  the  people 
to  protect  and  sustain  them  in  such  enactments. 

The  great  contest  that  has  been  waged  for  many  years  past, 
and  now  divides  the  people  of  this  country,  is  a  controversy  be- 
tween the  real  democracy  on  the  one  hand,  and  an  aristocracy 
of  wealth  on  the  other. 

That  greatest  of  reformers,  Jesus  Christ,  once  said,  "  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  He  was  a  true  prophet ;  and  acting 
by  the  spirit  of  the  future  that  rested  upon  him,  he  selected  his 
followers  from  the  common  people,  denouncing,  with  great  and 
just  severity,  the  overbearing  propensities  of  the  rich  scribes 
and  pharisees.  His  party  was  then,  is  now,  and  ever  will  be  a 
perfect  party,  so  far  as  it  follows  his  precepts,  and  adheres  to  his 
equalizing  doctrines. 

All  other  parties  are  imperfect,  and  tend  to  decay.  The  de- 
mocratic party,  by  adhering  with  a  firm  and  unwavering  faith, 
to  its  glorious  creed,  approaches  nearly  to  political  perfection, 
because  that  creed  is  identified  with  universal  humanity. 

The  great  cause  of  freedom,  and  the  necessity  of  handing 
down  to  posterity,  unimpaired,  the  principles  and  institutions  of 
this  mighty  Union,  should  be  looked  after  with  the  utmost 
watchfulness  by  every  true  American.  And  in  the  present  poli- 
tical contest,  we  should  look  to  the  great  interests  involved,  in- 
terests which  reach  far  beyond  any  thing  merely  local  or  tern 
porary.  And  in  thus  doing,  they  should  look  beyond  the  strife 
and  noise  of  party  conflict,  to  the  great  end  which  it  is  the  work 
of  the  American  people  to  accomplish. 

Durham,  Aug.  15,  1840. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Drclnration  of  Independence 5 

Constitution  of  the  United  States 10 

•iH  tin  Mils  to  the  Constitution 23 

^Washington's   Inaugural  Address 26 

Washington's  First  Annual  Address 30 

Adams's  Inaugural  Address 3 

Adams's  First  Annual  Add:       39 

Jefferson's  Inaugural  Address 45 

Jefferson's  First  Annual  Message 51 

Madison's  Inaugural  Addwss 60 

M:idiMin's  First  Annual  Message 63 

Monroe's  Inaugural  Address t 63 

Monroe's  First  Annual  Message 77 

J.  Q.  Adams's  Inaugural  Address 00 

J.  Q.  Adams's  First  Annual  Message 98 

Jacksou's  Inaugural  Address 123 

Jackson's  First  Annual  Message 126 

Maysville   Road   Veto 155 

Bank  Veto I  <J'J 

Jackson's  Second  Inaugural  Address 191 

Van  &ffi&|  Inaugural  Address 

Van  Buren*i,  Special  Session  Message 238 

Van  i  >t  Annual  Message 270 

Washington  s  Farewell  Address 302 

Jackson's  Farewell  Address 319 

Address  to  the  Young  Men  and  to  the  People  of  America..  ..341 

The  Currency 385 

Opinions  of  Alexander  Hamilton 410 

The  Perfection  of  Government,  by  GOT.  Morton 414 

Democracy  and  Reform  4 416 

Prospects  of  the  Democracy 424 

Washington's  Opinion  of  Paper  Money 426 


U9F 


THE 


TRUE    AMERICAN.' 


DECLARATION   OF    INDEPENDENC 

WHEN,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes 
necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  assujne, 
among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  Qod 
entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind 
requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel 
them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men 
are  created  equal  ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  unalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That,  to  secure 
these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deri- 
ving their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed  ; 
and  that,  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  de- 
structive of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new  government,  laying 
its  foundations  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its 
powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to 
effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will 
dictate  that  governments,  long  established,  should  not  be 
changed  for  light  and  transient  causes  ;  and,  accordingly, 
all  experience  hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed 
to  suffer,  while  *evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  them- 
selves by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accus- 
tomed. But,  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpa- 
tions, pursuing  invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  de- 
sign to  reduce  them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their 


6  THE    TRIE    AMERICAN. 

right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  o(Y  such  government,  and 
t.,  pi-mi..;.:  new  guards  l'r>r  their  future  security.  Such 
•lie  p.'itu nt  sufferance  of  the  colonies,  and  such 
is  now  the  nece^-ity  which  constrains  them  to  alter  their 
form,  -overnment.  The  history  of  the  pre- 

of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries 
^P  usurpations,  all  having,  in  direct  object,  the  establish- 
ent  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.     To  prove 
this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world  : 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  -the  most  wholesome 
nece—,.rv  tor  the  public  good,    j 

forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  imme- 
_  ind  pressing  imogj^uice,  unless  suspended  in  their 
qpJCtions  till  his  assent  should  be  obtained ;  and,  when 
so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  there. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation 
of  large  districts  of  people-,  unless  those  people  would  re- 
!::iij:u-!i  tii«-  i  j!u  of  representation  in  tiie  legislature:  a 
riu'lit  inestimableto  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  un^ 
usual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  repository  or 
their  public  records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing 
them  into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly,  for 
opposing,  with  manly  firmness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights 
of  the  people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions, 
to  cause  others  to  be  elected ;  whereby  the  legislative  pow- 
ers, incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  peo- 
ple at  large  for  their  exercise  ;  the  state  remaining,  in  the 
:i  time,  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from 
withobt,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these 
states ;  for  that  purpose,  obstructing  the  laws  of  naturali- 
zation of  foreigners,  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage 
their  migration  thither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new 
appropriations  of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  re- 
fusing his  assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for 
the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment 
of  their  salaries. 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  7 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent 
hither  swarms  of  officers  to  harass  our  people,  and  eat 
out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  time  of  peace,  standing  ar- 
mies, without  the  consent  of  our  legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent 
and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined,  with  others,  to  subject  us  to  a  juris- 
diction foreign  to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged 
by  our  laws ;  giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretend- 
ed legislation. 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us. 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punish- 
ment for  any  murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the 
inhabitants  of  these  states. 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world. 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent.  • 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefit  of  trial 
by  jury. 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pre- 
tended offences : 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a 
neighboring  province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary 
government,  and  enlarging  its  boundaries  so  as  to  render 
it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing 
the  same  absolute  rule  into  these  colonies : 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  va- 
luable laws,  and  altering,  fundamentally,  the  forms  of  our 
governments : 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring 
themselves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all 
cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us 
out  of  his  protection,  and  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt 
our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is,  at  this  time,  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign 
mercenaries  to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desolation, 
and  tyranny,  already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cru- 
elty and  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous 
ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 


g  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Hi-  Ins  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken  captive 
on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to 
:h<- executioners   of  their   friends  and  brethren, 
!I  themselves  by  their  hands. 

3  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and 
endeavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  fron- 
_,  the   merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule 
of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages, 
sexes,  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  have  petitioned 
for  redress  in  the  most  humble  terms.  Our  repeated 
IJRitjons  have  been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A 
prim-e,  whose  characters  thus  marked  by  every  act  which 
miy  define  a  tyrant,  iitanfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our  British 
bvthr.  ii.  We  havojfvarned  them,  from  time  to  time,  of 
the  attempts,  by  Iheir  legislature,  to  extend  an  unwar- 
rantable jurisdiction  o\y  u*  *We  have  reminded  them 
of  the  circumstances  of  o>ir  emigration  and  settlement 
here.  We  h:\ve  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  magr 
nanimity,  and  we  have  conjured  them,  by  the  ties  of  our 
common  kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which 
would  inevitablv  interrupt  our  connections  and  corre- 
spondence. They,  too,  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
ju-tice  and  of  consanguinity.  We  must,  jherefore,  ac- 
quiesce in  the  necessity  which  denounces  our  separation, 
and  hold  them,  as,\\i-  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies 
in  war,  in  peace,  friends. 

iu  rei'.ire,  the  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  in  General  Congress  as'sembled,  appealing 
to  the  Supreme  Jud^e  of  the  world /or  the  rectitude  of 
our  intentions,  do,  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  good  people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and 
declare  that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  ri^ht  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  States ;  that  they  are  absol- 
ved from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all 
political  connection  between  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved ;  and  that, 
as  free  an<J  independent  States,  they  have  full  power  to 
levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish 
commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  in- 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  9 

dependent  States  may  of  right  do.     And,  for  the  support  ~^ 
of  this  declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection 
of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each   other 
our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 

The  foregoing  declaration   was,  by  order  of  Congress, 
engrossed,  and  signed  by  the  following  members : 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 


New  Hampshire. 
JOSEPH  BARTLETT, 
WILLIAM  WHIFFLE, 
MATTHEW  THORNTON. 

Massachusetts  Bay. 
SAMUEL  ADAMS. 
JOHN  ADAMS, 
ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE, 
ELBRIDGE  GERRY. 

Rhode  Island. 
STEPHEN  HOPKINS, 
WILLIAM  ELLERY. 

Connecticut. 

ROGER  SHERMAN, 
SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON, 
WILLIAM  WILLIAMS, 
OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

New  York. 

WILLIAM  FLOYD, 
PHILIP  LIVINGSTON, 
FRANCIS  LEWIS, 
LEWIS  MORRIS. 

New  Jersey. 

RICHARD  STOCKTON, 
JOHN  WITHERSPOON, 
FRANCIS  HOPKINSON, 
JOHN  HART, 
ABRAHAM  CLARK. 

Pennsylvania. 
ROBERT  MORRIS, 
BENJAMIN  RUSH, 
BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
JOHN  MORTON, 
GEORGE  CLYMER, 
JAME,S  SMITH, 


GEORGE  TAYLOR, 
JAMES  WILSON, 
GEORGE  ROSS. 

Delaware. 

C^SAR  RODNEY,' 
GEORGE  READ, 
THOMAS  M'KEAN. 

Maryland. 

SAMUEL  CHASE, 
WILLIAM  PACA, 
THOMAS  STONE, 
CHARLES  CARROLL,  of 

Carroll  ton. 

Virginia. 

GEORGE  WYTHE, 
RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 
BENJAMIN  HARRISON, 
THOMAS  NELSON,  JR. 
FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE, 
CARTER  BRAXTON. 

.Vorth  Carolina. 

WILLIAM  HOOPER, 
JOSEPH  HEWES, 
JOHN  PENN. 

South  Carolina. 

EDWARD  RUTLEDGE, 
THOMAS  HEYWARD,  JR. 
THOMAS  LYNCH,  JR., 
ARTHUR  MIDDLETON. 

Georgia. 

BUTTON  GWINNETT, 
LYMAN  HALL, 
GEORGE  WALTON. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


WE,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a 
more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish 
this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I. 

SEC.  I. — All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be 
vested  in  a  Congress,  of  the  United  States,  which  shall 
consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

SEC.  II. — 1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be 
composed  of  members  chosen  every  second  year,  by  the 
people  of  the  several  states  :  and  the  electors  in  each 
state  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of 
the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  state  legislature. 

2.  No  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not 
have  attained  tlje  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven 
years  a  citizen  of  the  United   States,  and   who  shall  not, 
when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  in  which  he 
shall  be  chosen. 

3.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportion- 
ed among  the  several  states  which  may  be  included  within 
this  union,  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  which 
shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole  number   of 
free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term 
of  years,  and,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three  fifths  of 
all  other  persons.     The  actual  enumeration  shall  be  made 
within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term 
of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct. 
The  number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for 
every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  state  shall  have  at  least 
one  representative  :  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be 
made,  the  state  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to 


+H. 

1 
CONSTITUTION.  11 

choose  three ;  Massachusetts,  eight ;  Rhode  Island  and*  . 
Providence  Plantations,    one ;     Connecticut,   five ;    New 
York,  six  ;  New  Jersey,  four  ;  Pennsylvania,  eight ;  Dela- 
ware, one  ;  Maryland,  six ;  Virginia,  ten  ;  North  Carolina, 
five;   South  Carolina,  five;   Georgia,  three. 

4.  When  vacancies   happen  in  the  representation  from 
any  state,  the  executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs 
of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

5.  The   House   of  Representatives  shall  choose  their 
speaker  and  other  officers,  and  shall  have  the  sole  power 
of  impeachment. 

SEC.  ITT — 1.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  composed  of  two  senators  from  each  state,  chosen  by 
the  legislature  thereof,  for  six  years ;  and  each  senator 
shall  have  one  vote: 

2.  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  conse- 
quence of  the  first  election,  they   shall    be  divided,  as 
equally  as  may  be,  into  three  classes.     The  seats  of  the 
senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  second  year,  of  the  second  class   at  the  expi- 
ration of  the  fourth  year,  and  the  third  class   at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one  third  may  be  chosen 
every  second  year ;     and  if  vacancies  happen   by  resig- 
nation or  otherwise,  during  the  recess  of*  the  legislature 
of  any  state,  the  executive  thereof  may  make  temporary 
appointments  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  legislature, 
which  shall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

3.  No  person  shall   be  a  senator  who   shall   not  have 
attained   the   age  of  thirty  years,  and   been  nine  years  a 
citizen    of  the   United  States,   and  who  shall  not,  when 
elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  state  for  which  he  shall 
be  chosen. 

4.  The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
President  of  the  Senate,   but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless 
they  be  equally  divided. 

5.  The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also 
a  president  pro  tempore  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice  Pre- 
sident, or  when  he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States. 

6.  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  im- 
peachments.    When  sitting  for  that  purpose  they  shall  be 


THE    TttDE    AMERICAN. 

'  on  oath  or  affirmation.  When  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  pres.de  ;  and 
no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of 
two  thirds  of  the  members  present. 

7  Judgment,  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  not 
tend  further  than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualifi- 
cation to  hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or 
profit  under  the  United  States ;  but  the  party  convicted 
shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  and  subject  to  indictment, 
trial,  judgment,  and  punishment  according  to  lav/. 

gEC.  iv. 1.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  hold- 
ing elections  for  senators  and  representatives  shall  be 
prescribed  in  each  state,  by  the  k'jrishtnrc  thereof  ;  but 
the  Congress  may,  at  any  time,  bylaw,  make  or  alter 
such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choo 
senators. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every 
year  ;  and  such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in 
December,  unless  they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different 

day. 

SEC.  V. — 1.  Each  house  shall  be  judge  of  the  elec- 
tions, returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members ;  and 
a  majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  busi- 
ness ;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day, 
and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  attendance  of  ab- 
sent members,  in  such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties, 
as  each  house  may  provide. 

2.  Each    house  may   determine  the  rules  of  its  pro- 
ceedings,  punish   its  members  for    disorderly  behavior, 
and,  with  the  concurrence  of  two  thirds,  expel  a  member. 

3.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings, 
and  from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such 
parts  as  may,  in  their  judgment,  require  secrecy ;  and  the 
yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  of  either  house  on  any 
question  shall, -at  the  desire  of  one  fifth  of  those  present, 
be  entered  on  the  journal. 

4.  Neither  house,  during  the   session    of  Congress, 
shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more 
than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which 
the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SBC.  VI. — I.  The  senators   and  representatives  shall 


CONSTITUTION.  13 

receive  a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertain- 
ed by  law,  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States.  They  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony, 
and  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest,  dur- 
ing their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their  respective 
houses,  and  in  going  to  or  returning  from  the  same ;  and 
for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house,  they  shall  not 
be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

2.  No  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time 
for  which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office 
under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have 
been  created,  or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been 
increased,  during  such  time  ;  and  no  person  holding  any 
office  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  a  member  of  ei- 
ther house,  during  his  continuance  in  office. 

SEC.  VII. — 1.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  ori- 
ginate in  the  House  of  Representatives  :  but  the  Senate 
may  propose  or  concur  with  amendments  as  on  other 
bills. 

2.  Every  bill,  which   shall  have  passed  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become 
a  law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ; 
if  he  approve,  he  shall  sign  it ;  but  if  not,  he  shall  return 
it  with  his  objections,  to  that  house  in  which  it  shall  have 
originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  on  their 
journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.     If,  after  such  re- 
consideration, two  thirds  of  that  house  shall  agree  to  pass 
the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to 
the  other  house,   and  if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that 
house,  it  shall  become  a  law.     But  in  all  such  cases,  the 
votes   of  both  houses  shall  be  determined   by  yeas  and 
nays  ;  and  the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  bill,  shall  be  entered  on  the  journals  of  each  house 
respectively.     If  any   bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the 
President  within  ten  days   (Sundays  excepted)   after  it 
shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law, 
in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  Congress,  by 
their  adjournment,  prevent  its  return  ;  in  which  case  it 
shall  not  be  a  law.  » 

3.  Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to  which  the  con- 
currence of  the  Senate  and   House  of  Representatives 

2 


J4  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

may  be  necessary  (except  on  a  question  of  adjournment) 
shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ; 
and  before  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall  be  approved 
bv  him  or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed 
by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, according  to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in 
the  case  of  a  bill. 

SEC.  VIII. — The  Congress  shall  have  power — 

1.  To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  ex- 
cises ;  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide   for  the  common  de- 
fence and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States ;  but  all 
duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout 
the  United  States : 

2.  To  borrow   money  on  the  credit  of  the  United 

States  : 

3.  To  regulate  commerce   with   foreign  nations  and 
among  the  several  states,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes : 

4.  To  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and 
uniform  laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies,  throughout 
the  United  States : 

6.  To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of 
foreign  coin,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  mea- 
sures : 

6.  To  provide  for  the   punishment  of  counterfeiting 
the  securities  and  current  coin  of  the  United  States : 

7.  To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  : 

8.  To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts, 
by  securing,  for  limited   times,  to  authors  and  inventors, 
the  exclusive  right  to  their  respective  writings  and  dis- 
coveries: 

9.  To   constitute   tribunals   inferior   to   the    supreme 
court : 

10.  To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  commit- 
ted on  the  high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  na- 
tions : 

11.  To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  re- 
prisal, and  make  rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and 
water  : 

12.  To  raise  and  support  armies ;  but  no  appropria- 
tion of  money  to  that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than 
two  years : 


CONSTITUTION. 


15 


13.  To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  : 

14.  To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces : 

15.  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute 
the  laws  of  the  union,   suppress  insurrections,  and  repel 
invasions : 

16.  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming  and  disciplining 
the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may 
be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  reserv- 
ing to  the  states  respectively  the  appointment  of  the  offi- 
cers, and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia,  according 
to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress  : 

17.  To  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  what- 
soever, over  such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square) 
as  may,  by  cession  of  particular  states,   and  the  accept- 
ance of  Congress,  become  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  authority  over  all  places 
purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  state 
in   which   the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts, 
magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  and  other  needful  build- 
ings :  And, 

18.  To  make   all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers, 
and   all   other  powers  vested  by  this   constitution  in  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  or   in   any   department 
or  officer  thereof. 

SEC.  IX. — 1.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  any  of  the  states,  now  existing,  shall  think 
proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress 
prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight : 
but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  importation, 
not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

2.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  inva- 
sion, the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

3.  No  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  law,  shall  be 
passed. 

4.  No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  un- 
less in  proportion  to  the  census  or   enumeration  herein 
before  directed  to  be  taken. 

5.  No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported 


16  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

* 

from  any  state.  No  preference  shall  be  given,  by  any 
regulation  of  commerce  or  revenue,  to  the  ports  of  one 
state  over  those  of  another;  nor  shall  vessels  bound  to  or 
from  one  state  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  duties 
in  another. 

6.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  but  in 
consequence  of  appropriations-  made  by  law  ;  and   a  re- 
gular statement  and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures of  all  public  money  shall  be  published  from  time  to 
time. 

7.  No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted   by  the  United 
States  ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust 
under  them   shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress, 
accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office  or  title  of  any 
kind  whatever,  from  any  king,  prince,  or  foreign  state. 

SEC.  X. — I.  No  state  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alli- 
ance, or  confederation  ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and  re- 
prisal ;  coin  money  ;  emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  any  thing 
but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts  ; 
pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  la\v,  or  law  im- 
pairing the  obligation  of  contracts;  or  grant  any  title  of 
nobility. 

No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress, 
ii v  imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except 
what  may  be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  in- 
spection laws ;  and  the  net  produce  of  all  duties  and  im- 
ports laid  by  any  state  on  imports  or  exports,  shall  be  for 
the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and  all 
such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  .control  of 
the  Cougress.  No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  lay  any  duty  on  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships 
of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or 
compact  with  another  state  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or 
engage  in  war,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  immi- 
iieut  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  II. 

SEC.  I.— The  executive  power  shall    be  vested  in  a 

esident  of  the  United  States  of  America.     He  shall 

hold  his  office  during  the  term  of  four  years,  and,  toge- 


CONSTITUTION.  17 

ther  with  the  Vice-President,  chosen  for  the  same  term, 
be  elected  as  follows  : 

2.  Each  state  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  le- 
gislature thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal 
to  the  whole  number  of  senators  and  representatives  to 
which  the  state  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress  ;  but  no 
senator  or  representative,  or  person  holding  an  office  of 
trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  appointed 
an  elector. 

3.  [Annulled.     See  Amendments,  art.  12.] 

4.  The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing 
the  electors,  and  the  day  on  which  they  shall   give  their 
votes ;  which  day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

5.  No  person  except  a  natural-born  citi/en,  or  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
this  constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent ;  neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office, 
who  shall  not  have  attained  the   age  of  thirty-five  years, 
and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the  United  States. 

6.  In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office, 
or  of  his  death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the 
powers  and  duties  of  said  office,   the  same  shall  devolve 
on  the  Vice-President ;  and  the  Congress  may  by  law 
provide  for  the  case  of  removal,  death,  resignation,  or  in- 
ability, both  of  the  President  and  Vice-President,  declar- 
ing what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such  offi- 
cer shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disability  be  removed, 
or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

7.  The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his 
services  a  compensation  which  shall  neither  be  increased 
nor  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have 
been  elected ;  and  he  shall  not  receive,  within  that  peri- 
od, any  other  emolument  from  the  United  States,  or  any 
of  them. 

8.  Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he 
shall  take  the  following  oath  or  affirmation : — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or   affirm)  that  I  will   faithfully 
execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  de- 
fend the  constitution  of  the  United  States," 
2* 


IS  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

SEC.  II.-— 1.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  I'niu-d  States,  and  of 
the  militia  of  the  several  states,  when  called  into  the  ac- 
tual service  of  the  .United  States :  he  may  require  the 
opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of  the 
executive  departments,  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the 
duties  of  their  respective  offices ;  and  he  shall  have  power 
to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

2.  He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make  treat  ies,  provided  two  thirds 
of  the  senators  present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate, 
and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and  all  other  offi- 
cers of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  ar§  not 
herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  esta- 
blished by  law.  But  the  Congress  may,  by  law,  vest  the 
appointment  of  such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  pro- 
per, in  the  President  ~  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in 
the  heads  of  department-. 

ti.  The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacan- 
cies that  may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by 
granting  commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of 
their  next  session. 

SEC.  III. — 1.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the 
Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  union,  and  re- 
commend to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he 
shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient ;  he  may,  on  extra- 

diuary  occasions,  Convene  both  houses,  or  either  of 

them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  them,  with 

espect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  thorn 

such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper  ;  he  shall  receive 

ibassadors,  and  other  public  ministers ;  he  shall  take 
the  laws  be  faithfully  executed;  and  shall  com- 
uon  all  the  officers  of  the  United  States 

^•EC^IV>"~1;  The  Prcsident,  Vice-President,  and  all 
il  officers  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from 
Jffieeon  impeachment  for,  and  conviction  of,  treason, 
bribery,  or  other  lugh  crimes  and  misdemeanors 


CONSTITUTION.  19 

•     * 

ARTICLE  III. 

SEC.  I. — 1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  court,  and  in  such  inferior 
courts  as  the  Congress  may,  from  time,  ordain  .and  esta- 
blish. The  judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior 
courts,  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and 
shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  their  services  a  compen- 
sation which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  contin- 
uance in  office. 

SEC.  II. — 1.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all 
cases  in  law  and  equity  arising  under  this  constitution,  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which 
shall  be  made,  under  their  authority ;  to  all  cases  affecting 
ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and  consuls ;  to  all 
cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction  ;  to  contro- 
versies to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party  :  to 
controversies  between  two  or  more  states ;  between  a 
state  and  citizens  of  another  state  ;  between  citizens  of 
different  states  ;  between  citizens  of  the  same  state,  claim- 
ing lands  under  grants  of  different  states,  and  between 
a  state,  of  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  states,  citi- 
zens or  subjects. 

2.  In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  mi- 
nisters and  consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  state  shall  be  a 
party,  the  supreme  court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction. 
In  all  other   cases  before  mentioned,  the   supreme  court 
shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction,  both  as  to  law  and  fact, 
with  such  exceptions,  and  under  such  regulations  as  the 
Congress  shall  make. 

3.  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeach- 
ment, shall  be  by  jury  ;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the 
state  where  the  said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed  ; 
but  when  not  committed  within  any   state,  the  trial  shall 
be  at  such  place  or  places  as  the  Congress  may  by  law 
have  directed. 

SEC.  III. — 1.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall 
consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering 
to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  per- 
son shall  be  convicted  of  treason,  unless  on  the  testimony 
of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or  confessions  in 
open  court. 


20  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

^ft 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  pun- 
ishment of  treason  ;  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall 
work  corruption  of  blood,  or  forfeiture,  except  during  the 
life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

SEC.  I. — 1.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each 
state  to'the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings 
of  every  other  state.  And  the  Congress  may,  by  general 
Jaws,  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  such  acts,  records, 
and  proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

SEC.  II. — 1.  The  citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  enti- 
tled to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the 
several  states. 

2.  A  person  charged  in  any  state  with  treason,  felony, 
or  other  crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found 
in  another  state,   shall,  on  demand   of  the  executive  au- 
thority of  the  state  from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up  to 
be  removed  to  the  state  having  jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

3.  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state,  un- 
der the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  con- 
sequence of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall   be  delivered  up  on 
claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be 
due. 

SEC.  III. — 1.  New  states  maybe  admitted  by  the  Con- 
gress into  this  union  ;  but  no  new  state  shall  be  formed 
or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  state ;  nor 
any  state  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more 
states,  or  parts  of  states,  without  the  consent  of  the  legis- 
lature of  the  states  concerned,  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the 
territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States  ; 
and  nothing  in  this  constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as 
to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any 
particular  state. 

SEC.  IV.— 1.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to 
every  state  hi  this  union,  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion  ;, 


CONSTITUTION.  21 

and,  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  execu- 
tive, (when  the  legislature  cannot  be  convened,)  against 
domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

1.  The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  houses 
shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this 
constitution,  or  on  the  application  of  the  legislatures  of 
two  thirds  of  the  several  states,  shall  call  a  convention 
for  proposing  amendments,  which,  in  either  case,  shall  be 
valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  this  constitu- 
tion, when  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three  fourths  of 
the  several  states,  or  by  conventions  in  three  fourths 
thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification. may 
be  proposed  by  the  Congress;  provided,  that  no  amend- 
ment which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eight,  shall  in  any  manner  affect,  the 
first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first 
article;  and  that  no  state, -..without  its  consent,  shall  be 
deprived  of  its  equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

1.  All  debts  contracted,  and  engagements  entered  into, 
before  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  shall  be  as  valid 
against  the  United  States  under  this  constitution,  as  under 
the  confederation. 

2.  This  constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and   all  trea- 
ties made,  or  which  shall  be  made  under  the  authority  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  ; 
and  the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be  bound  thereby ;  any 
thing  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  state  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

3.  The  senators  and  representatives  before  mentioned, 
and  the  members  of  the  several  state  legislatures,  and  all 
executive  and  judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  several  states,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affir- 
mation to  support  this  constitution  ;   but  no  religious  test 
shall  ever  be  required  as   a  qualification  to  any  office  or 
public  trust  under  the  United  States. 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


ARTICLE  VII. 

1.  The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  states 
shall  be  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  constitution 
between  the  states  so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  convention,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
states  present,  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-seven,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  the  twelfth.  In  witness  whereof, 
we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

President,  and  J)tj>nty  from  Virginia. 


ffew  Hampshire. 
JOHN  LANGDON, 
NICHOLAS  OILMAN. 

Massachusetts. 
NATHANIEL  GORHAM, 
RUFUS  KING. 

Connecticut. 

WM.  SAMUEL  JOHNSON, 
ROGER  SHERMAN. 

A*e70  York. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

JWw  Jersey. 

WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, 
DAVID  BREARLEY, 
WILLIAM  PATTERSON, 
JONATHAN  DAYTON. 

Pennsylvania. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
THOMAS  MIFFLIN, 
ROBERT  MORRIS, 
GEORGE  CLYMER, 
THOMAS  FITZSIMONS, 
JARED  INGERSOLL, 
JAMES  WILSON, 
GOVERNEUR  MORRIS. 


Delaware. 

GEORGE  REED, 
<;  IN  \I.\G  J5KDFORD,  JR. 
JOHN  DICKKRSON, 
RICHARD  BASSETT, 
JACOB  BROOM. 
-. 

Maryland. 

JAMES  M'HENRY, 
DANIEL  of  ST.  THO. 

JENIFER, 
DANIEL  CARROLL, 

Virginia. 
JOHN  BLAIR, 
JAMES  MADISON,  JR. 

J\"orth   Carolina. 
WILLIAM  BLOUNT, 
RICH.  DOBBS  SPAIGHT, 
HUGH  WILLIAMSON. 

South  Carolina. 

JOHN  RUTLEDGE, 
CHARLES  C.  PINCKNEY, 
CHARLES  PINCKNEY, 
PIERCE  BUTLER. 

Georgia. 

WILLIAM  FEW, 
ABRAHAM  BALDWIN. 


Attest, 


WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 


AMENDMENTS.  23 


AMENDMENTS  TO  THE   CONSTITUTION. 

ART.  I. — Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an 
establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exer- 
cise thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of 
the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  as- 
semble and  to  petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of 
grievances. 

ART.  II. — A  well-regulated  militia  being  necessary  to 
the  security  of  a  free  state,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep 
and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed. 

ART.  III. — No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quar- 
tered in  any  house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor 
in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ART.  IV. — The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in 
their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects,  against  unrea- 
sonable searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated ;  and 
no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  support- 
ed by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the 
place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to  be 
seized. 

ART.  V. — No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capi- 
tal, or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment 
or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in 
the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the"  militia  when  in  actual 
service,  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger  ;  nor  shall  any 
person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice  put  in 
jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled,  in  any 
criminal  case,  to  be  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  de- 
prived of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process 
of  law ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use 
without  just  compensation. 

ART.  VI. — In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an 
impartial  jury  of  the  state  and  district  wherein  the  crime 
shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have  been 
previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  confronted 
with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have  compulsory  pro- 


24  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

cess  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  liis  favor ;  and  to  have  the 
assistance  of  counsel  for  his  deli-nee. 

ART.  VII. — In  suits  of  common  law,  where  the  value 
in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved  ;  and  no  fact,  tried  by  a 
jury,  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any  court  of  the 
United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  com- 
mon law. 

ART.  VIII. — Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor 
excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punish- 
ments inflicted. 

ART.  IX. — The  enumeration  in  the  constitution, .  of 
certain  rights,  shall  not  b'e  construed  to  deny  or  disparage 
others  retained  by  the  people. 

ART.  X. — The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  constitution,  nor  prohibited  to  it  by  the 
states,  are  reserved  to  the  states  respectively,  or  to  the 
people. 

ART.  XI. — The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  not  be  construed  to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or 
equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against  one  of  the 
United  States  by  citizens  of  another  state,  or  by  citizens 
or  subjects  of  any  foreign  state. 

ART.  XII. — 1.  The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respec- 
tive states,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  President  and  Vice- 
President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  same  state  with  themselves ;  they  shall  name 
in  their  ballots  the  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  in 
distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President ; 
and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for 
as  President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each ;  which  lists 
they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat 
of  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the 
President  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate 
shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall 
then  be  counted ;  the  person  having  the  greatest  number 
of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  President,  if  such  number 
be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ; 
and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  per- 


AMENDMENTS.  25 

sons  having  the  highest  number,  not  exceeding  three  on 
the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  Pre- 
sident.— But  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be 
taken  by  states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having 
one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a 
member  or  members  from  two  thirds  of  the  states,  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  states  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 
And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a 
President  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon 
them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following, 
then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the 
President. 

2.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as 
Vice-President,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number 
be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ; 
and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  two  high- 
est numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice- 
President  ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  -a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 

3.  But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office 
of  President,  shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States. 

ART.  XIII. — If  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  shall 
accept,  claim,  receive,  or  retain  any  title  of  nobility  or 
honor,  or  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  accept 
or  retain  any  present,  pension,  office,  or  emolument  of  any 
kind  whatever,  from  any  emperor,  king,  prince,  or  foreign 
power,  such  person  shall  cease  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  shall  be  incapable  of  holding  any  office 
of  trust  or  profit  under  them,  or  either  of  them. 
3 


Og  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

WASHINGTON'S   INAUGURAL   ADDRESS, 
APRIL  30,  1789. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

Among  the  vicissitudes  incident  to  life,  no  event  could 
have  filled  me  with  greater  anxieties  than  that  of  which 
the  notification  was  transmitted  by  your  order,  and  re- 
ceived on  the  14th  day  of  the  present  month.  On  the  one 
hand,  I  was  summoned  by  my  country,  whose  voice  I  can 
never  hear  but  with  veneration  and  love,  from  a  retreat 
which  I  had  chosen  with  the  fondest  predilection,  and,  in 
my  flattering  hopes,  with  an  immutable  decision,  as  the 
asylum  of  my  declining  years,  a  retreat  which  was  ren- 
dered every  day  more  necessary  as  well  as  more  dear  to  me 
by  the  addition  of  habit  to  inclination,  and  of  frequent 
interruptions  in  my  health,  to  the  gradual  waste  committed 
on  it  by  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  magnitude  and 
difficulty  of  the  trust  to  which  the  voice  of  my  country 
called  me,  being  sufficient  to  awaken  in  the  wisest  and 
most  experienced  of  her  citizens  a  distrustful  scrutiny 
into  his  qualifications,  could  not  but  overwhelm  with  de- 
spondence, one,  who,  inheriting  inferior  endowments  from 
nature,  and  unpractised  in  the  duties  of  civil  administra- 
tion, ought  to  be  peculiarly  conscious  of  his  own  defi- 
ciences.  In  this  conflict  of  emotions,  all  that  I  dare  aver 
is,  that  it  has  been  my  faithful  study  to  collect  my  duty 
from  a  just  appreciation  of  every  circumstance  by  which 
it  might  be  effected.  All  I  dare  hope  is,  that  if  in  execu- 
ting this  task  I  have  been  too  much  swayed  by  a  grateful 
remembrance  of  former  instances,  or  by  an  affectionate 
sensibility  to  this  transcendent  proof  of  the  confidence  of 
my  fellow-citizens,  and  have  thence  too  little  consulted 
my  incapacity  as  well  as  disinclination  for  the  weighty 
and  untried  cares  before  me,  my  error  will  be  palliated  by 
the  motives  which  misled  me,  and  its  consequences  be 
judged  by  my  country  with  some  share  of  the  partiality 
with  which  they  originated. 


WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  27 

Such  being  the  impressions  under  which  I  have,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  public  summons,  repaired  to  the  present 
station,  it  would  be  peculiarly  improper  to  omit,  in  this 
first  official  act,  my  fervent  supplications  to  that  Almigh- 
ty Being  who  rules  over  the  universe — who  presides  in  the 
councils  of  nations — and  whose  providential  aids  can 
supply  every  human  defect,  that  his  benediction  may  con- 
secrate to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  a  government  instituted  by  themselves  for 
these  essential  purposes,  and  may  enable  every  instrument 
employed  in  its  administration  to  execute  with  success  the 
functions  allotted  to  his  charge.  In  tendering  this  ho- 
mage to  the  great  Author  of  every  public  and  private  good, 
I  assure  myself  that  it  expresses  your  sentiments  not  less 
than  my  own,  nor  those  of  my  fellow-citizens  at  large, 
less  than  either.  No  people  can  be  bound  to  acknow- 
ledge and  adore  the  invisible  Hand  which  conducts  the 
affairs  of  men,  more  than  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Every  step  by  which  they  have  advanced  to  the  character 
of  an  independent  nation  seems  to  have  been  distinguished 
by  gome  token  of  providential  agency  ;  and  in  the  impor- 
tant revolution  just  accomplished  in  the  system  of  their 
united  government,  the  tranquil  deliberations  and  voluntary 
consent  of  so  many  distinct  communities,  from  which  the 
event  has  resulted,  cannot  be  compared  with  the  means 
by  which  mont  governments  have  been  established,  with- 
out some  return  of  pious  gratitude,  along  with  an  humble 
anticipation  of  the  future  blessings  which  the  past  seems 
to  presage.  These  reflections,  arising  out  of  the  present 
crisis,  have  forced  themselves  too  strongly  on  my  mind  to 
be  suppressed.  You  will  join  with  me,  I  trust,  in  think- 
ing that  there  are  none  under  the  influence  of  which  the 
proceedings  of  a  new  and  free  government  can  more 
auspiciously  commence. 

By  the  article  establishing  the  executive  department,  it 
is  made  the  duty  of  the  President  "  to  recommend  to 
your  consideration  such  measures  as  he*  shall  judge  ne- 
cessary and  expedient."  The  circumstances  under  which 
I  now  meet  you  will  acquit  me  from  entering  into  that 
subject  farther  than  to  refer  to  the  great  constitutional 
charter  under  which  you  are  assembled,  and  which,  in 


28  THE    TRUE.  AMERICAN. 

defining  your  powers,  designates  the  objects  to  which  your 
attention  is  to  be  given.     It  will  be  more  consistent  with 
those  circumstances,  and  far   more  congenial  with    the 
feelings  which  actuate  me,  to  substitute,  in  place  of  a 
recommendation  of  particular  measures,  the  tribute  that  is 
due  to  the  talents,  the  rectitude,  and  the  patriotism  which 
adorn  the  characters  selected  to  devise  and  adopt  them. 
In  these  honorable  qualifications  I  behold  the  surest  pledges 
that,  as  on  one  side,  no  local  prejudices  or  attachments, 
no  separate  views  nor  party  animosities,  will  misdirect  the 
comprehensive  and  equal  eye  which  ought  to  watch  over 
this  great  assemblage  of  communities  and  interests  :  so, 
on  another,  that  the  foundations  of  our  national  policy  will 
be  laid  in  the  pure  and  immutable  principles  of  private 
morality :  and  the  pre-eminence  of  free  government  be 
exemplified  by  all  the  attributes  which  can  win  the  affec- 
tions of  its  'citizens,  and  command  the   respect  of  the 
wurld.     I  dwell  on  "this  prospect  with  every  satisfaction 
which  an  ardent  love  for  my  country  can  inspire,  since 
there  is  no  truth  more  thoroughly  established  than  that 
there  exists  in  the  economy  and  course  of  nature  an  in- 
dissoluble union  between  virtue  and  happiness,  between 
duty  and  advantage ;  between  the  genuine  maxims  of  an 
honest  and  magnanimous  policy  and  the  solid  rewards  of 
public  prosperity  and  felicity;  since  we  ought  to  be  no 
less  persuaded  that  the  propitious  smiles  of  Heaven  can 
•  never  be  expected  on  a  nation  that  disregards  the  eternal 
rules  of  order  and  right  which  Heaven  itself  has  ordained, 
and  since  the  preservation  of  the  sacred  fire  of  liberty,  and 
the  destiny  of  the  republican  model  of  government,  are 
justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally  staked  on  the 
experiment  intrusted  to  the  hands  of  the  American  people. 
Besides  the  ordinary  objects  submitted  to  your  care,  it 
will  remain  with  your  judgment  to  decide  how  far  an  ex- 
ercise of  the  occasional  power  delegated  by  the  fifth  arti- 
cle of  the  constitution  is  rendered  expedient  at  the  pre- 
sent juncture  by  the  nature  of  the  objections  which  have 
been  urged  against  the  system,  or  by  the  degree  of  in- 
quietude which  has  given  birth  to  them.     Instead  of  un- 
dertaking particular  recommendations  on  this  subject,  in 
which  I  could  be  guided  by  no  lights  derived  from  offi- 


WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  29 

cial  opportunities,  1  shall  again  give  way  to  my  entire 
confidence  in  your  discernment  and  pursuit  of  the  public 
good ;  for  I  assure  myself  that  while  you  carefully  avoid 
every  alteration  which  might  endanger  the  benefits  of  a 
united  and  effective  government,  or  which  ought  to  await 
the  future  lessons  of  experience,  a  reverence  for  the  cha- 
racteristic rights  of  freemen,  and  a  regard  for  the  pub- 
lic harmony,  will  sufficiently  influence,  your  deliberations 
on  the  question  how  far  the  former  can  be  more  impreg- 
nably  fortified,  or  the  latter  be  safely  and  advantageously 
promoted. 

To  the  preceding  observations  I  have  one  to  add,  which 
will  be  most  properly  addressed  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. It  concerns  myself,  and  will  therefore  be  as 
brief  as  possible.  When  I  was  first  honored  with  a  call 
into  the  service  of  my  country,  then  on  the  eve  of  an  ar- 
duous struggle  for  its  liberties,  the  light  in -which  I  con- 
templated my  duty  required  that  I  should  renounce  every 
pecuniary  compensation.  From  this  resolution  I  have  in 
no  instance  departed  ;  and  being  still  under  the  impres- 
sions which  produced  it,  I  must  decline,  as  inapplicable 
to  myself,  any  share  in  the  personal  emoluments  which 
may  be  indispensably  included  in  a  permanent  provision 
for  the  executive  department,  and  must  accordingly  pray 
that  the  pecuniary  estimates  for  the  station  in  which  I 
am  placed,  may,  during  my  continuance  in  it,  be  limited 
to  such  actual  expenditures  as  the  public  good  may  be 
thought  to  require. 

Having  thus  imparted  to  you  my  sentiments  as  they 
have  been  awakened  by  the  occasion  which  brings  us 
together,  I  shall  take  my  present  leave,  but  not  without 
resorting  once  more  to  the  benign  Parent  of  the  human 
race,  in  humble  supplication  that,  since  he  has  been 
pleased  to  favor  the  American  people  with  opportunities  for 
deliberating  in  perfect  tranquility  and  dispositions  for  de- 
ciding with  unparalleled  unanimity  on  a  form  of  govern- 
ment for  the  security  of  their  union  and  the  advancement 
of  their  happiness,  so  his  divine  blessing  may  be  equally 
conspicuous  in  the  enlarged  views,  the  temperate  consul- 
tations, and  the  wise  measures  on  which  the  success  of 
this  government  must  depend. 

o  A 


30 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


WASHINGTON'S   FIRST   ANNUAL   ADDRESS, 

JAMAI'.V    8,     1790. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  Ilutifc  of  Representatives  : 

I  embrace  with  great  satisfaction  the  opportunity  which 
now  presents  itself  of  congratulating  you  on  the  present 
favorable  prospects  of  our  public  affairs.  The  recent  ac- 
cession of  the  important  state  of  North  Carolina  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  (of  which  official  in- 
formation has  been  received,)  the  rising  credit  and  re- 
spectability of  our  country,  the  general  and  increasing 
good  will  towards  the  government  of  the  Union,  and  the 
concord,  peace,  aiid  plenty,  with  which  we  are  blessed, 
are  cir-  umst;mces  auspicious,  in  an  eminent  degree,  to 
our  national  prosperity. 

In  resuming  your  consultations  for  the  general  good, 
you  cannot  but  derive  encouragement  from  the  reflection 
that  the  measures  of  the  last  session  have  born  ;is  satisfac- 
tory to  your  constituents,  as  the  novelty  and  difficulty  of 
the  work  allowed  you  to  hope.  Still  further  to  realize 
their  expectations,  and  to  secure  the  blessings  which  a 
gracious  Providence  has  placed  within  our  reach,  will,  in 
the  course  of  the  present  important  session,  call  for  the 
cool  and  deliberate  exertion  of  your  patriotism,  firmness, 
and  wisdom. 

Among  the  many  interesting  objects  which  will  engage 
your  attention,  that  of  providing  for  the  common  defence 
will  merit  particular  regard.  To  be  prepared  for  war  is 
ouc  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  preserving  peace. 

A  free  people  ought  not  only  to  be  armed,  but  disci- 
plined ;  to  which  end  a  uniform  and  well-digested  plan  is 
requisite  :  and  their  safety  and  interest  require  that  they 
should  promote  such  manufactures  as  tend  to  render  them 
independent  of  others  for  essential,  particularly  military 
supplies. 

The  proper  establishment  of  the  troops  which  may  be 
deemed  indispensable,  will  be  entitled  to  mature  conside- 
ration. In  the  arrangements  which  may  be  made  re- 
specting it,  it  will  be  of  importance  to  conciliate  the  com- 


WASHINGTON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.  31 

fortable  support  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  with  a  due 
regard  to  economy. 

There  was  reason  to  hope  that  the  pacific  measures 
adopted  with  regard  to  certain  hostile  tribes  of  Indians 
would  have  relieved  the  inhabitants  of  our  southern  and 
western  frontiers  from  their  depredations ;  but  you  will 
perceive  from  the  information  contained  in  the  papers 
which  I  shall  direct  to  be  laid  before  you,  (comprehend- 
ing a  communication  from  the  commonwealth  of  Vir- 
ginia,) that  we  ought  to  be  prepared  to  afford  protection 
to  those  parts  of  the  Union,  and,  if  necessary,  to  punish 
aggressors. 

The  interests  of  the  United  States  require  that  our  in- 
tercourse with  other  nations  should  be  facilitated  by  such 
provisions  as  will  enable  me  to  fulfil  my  duty  in  that  re- 
spect, in  the  manner  which  circumstances  may  render 
most  conducive  to  the  public  good,  and,  to  this  end,  that 
the  compensations  to  be  made  to  the  persons  who  may 
be  employed  should,  according  to  the  nature  of  thejr 
appointments,  be  defined  by  law ;  and  a  competent  fund 
designated  for  defraying  the  expenses  incident  to  the 
conduct  of  our  foreign  affairs. 

Various  considerations  also  render  it  expedient  that  the 
terms  on  which  foreigners  may  be  admitted  to  the  rights 
of  citizens,  should  be  speedily  ascertained  by  a  uniform 
rule  of  naturalization. 

Uniformity  in  the  currency,  weights,  and  measures  of 
the  United  States  is  an  object  of  great  importance,  and 
will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  duly  attended  to. 

The  advancement  of  agriculture,  commerce  and  manu- 
factures, by  all  proper  means,  will  not,  I  trust,  need  re- 
commendation ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  intimating  to  you 
the  expediency  of  giving  effectual  encouragement,  as  well 
to  the  introduction  of  new  and  useful  inventions  from 
abroad,  as  to  the  exertions  of  skill  and  genius  in  produ- 
cing them  at  home ;  and  of  facilitating  the  intercourse 
between  the  distant  parts  of  our  country  by  a  due  atten- 
tion to  the  post-office  and  post-roads. 

Nor  am  I  less  persuaded  that  you  will  agree  with  me 
in  opinion,  that  there  is  nothing  which  can  better  deserve 
your  patronage  than  the  promotion  of  science  and  litera- 


32  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

turc.  Knowledge  is  in  every  country  the  surest  basis  of 
public  happiness.  In  one  in  which  the  measures  of  go- 
vernment receive  their  impressions  so  immediately  from 
the  sense  of  the  community  as  in  ours,  it  is  proportiona- 
bly  essential.  To  the  security  of  a  free  constitution  it 
contributes  in  various  ways  :  by  convincing  those  who 
are  intrusted  with  tire  public  administration,  that  every 
valuable  end  of  government  is  best  answered  by  the  en- 
lightened confidence  of  the  people  ;  and  by  teaching  the 
people  themselves  to  know  and  to  value  their  own  rights  ; 
to  discern  and  provide  against  invasions  of  them  ;  to  dis- 
tinguish between  oppression  and  the  necessary  exercise 
of  lawful  authority ;  between  burdens  proceeding  from  a 
disregard  to  their  convenience,  and  those  resulting  from 
the  inevitable  exigencies  of  society ;  to  discriminate  the 
spirit  of  liberty  from  that  of  licentiousness,  .cherishing 
the  first,  avoiding  the  last,  and  uniting  a  speedy  but  tem- 
perate vigilance  against  encroachments,  with  an  inviola- 
ble respect  to  the  laws. 

Whether  this  desirable  object  will  be  best  promoted  by 
affording  aids  to  seminaries  of  learning  already  establish- 
ed ;  by  the  institution  of  a  national  university  ;  or  by  any 
other  expedients,  will  be  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  legislature. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  saw  with  peculiar  pleasure,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
session,  the  resolution  entered  into  by  you,  expressive  of 
your  opinion  that  an  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of 
the  public  credit,  is  a  matter  of  high  importance  to  the 
national  honor  and  prosperity.  In  this  sentiment  I  en- 
tirely concur.  And,  to  a  perfect  confidence  in  your  best 
endeavors  to  devise  such  a  provision  as  will  be  truly  con- 
sistent with  the  end,  I  add  an  equal  reliance  on  the  cheer- 
ful co-operation  of  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature. 
It  would  be  superfluous  to  specify  inducements  to  a  mea- 
sure in  which  the  character  and  permanent  interest  of  the 
United  States  are  so  obviously  and  so  deeply  concerned, 
and  which  has  received  so  explicit  a  sanction  from  your 
declaration. 


ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  33 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  have  directed  the  proper  officers  to  lay  before  you, 
respectively,  such  papers  and  estimates  as  regard  the  af- 
fairs particularly  recommended  to  your  consideration, 
and  necessary  to  convey  to  you  that  information  of  the 
state  of  the  Union  which  it  is  my  duty  to  afford. 

The  welfare  of  our  country  is  the  great  object  to  which 
our  cares  and  efforts  ought  to  be  directed.  Arid  I  shall 
derive  great  satisfaction  from  a  co-operation  with  you,  in 
the  pleasing,  though  arduous  task  of  insuring  to  our  fel- 
low-citizens the  blessings  which  they  have  a  right  to  ex 
pect  from  a  free,  efficient,  and  equal  government. 


ADAMS'S   INAUGURAL   ADDRESS, 

MARCH    4,    1797. 

When  it  was  first  perceived,  in  early  times,  that  no 
middle  course  for  America  remained,  between  unlimited 
submission  to  a  foreign  legislature,  and  a  total  indepen- 
dence of  its  claims,  men  of  reflection  were  less  appre- 
hensive of  danger  from  the  formidable  power  of  fleets 
and  armies  they  must  determine  to  resist,  than  from  those 
contests  and  dissensions  which  would  certainly  arise  con- 
cerning the  forms  of  government  to  be  instituted  over  the 
whole  and  over  the  parts  of  this  extensive  country.  Rely- 
ing, however,  on  the  purity  of  their  intentions,  the  justice 
of  their  cause,  and  the  integrity  and  intelligence  of  the 
people,  under  an  overruling  Providence  which  had  so  sig- 
nally protected  this  country  from  the  first,  the  represen- 
tatives of  this  nation,  then  consisting  of  little  more  than 
half  its  present  number,  not  only  broke  to  pieces  the 
chains  which  were  forging,  and  the  rod  of  iron  that  was 
lifted  up,  but  frankly  cut  asunder  the  ties  which  had  bound 
them,  and  launched  into  an  ocean  of  uncertainty. 

The  zeal  and  ardor  of  the  people,  during  the  revolu- 
^tionary  war,  supplying  the  place  of  government,  com- 


34  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

manded  a  degree  of  order,  sufficient  at  least  for  the  tem- 
porary preservation  of  society.  The  confederation  which 
was  early  felt  to  be  necessary  was  prepared  from  the  mo- 
dels of  the  Batavian  and  Helvetic  confederacies  :  the  only 
examples  which  remain,  with  any  detail  and  precision  in 
history,  and  certainly  the  only  ones  which  the  people  at 
large  had  ever  considered.  But,  reflecting  on  the  striking 
difference  in  so  many  particulars,  between  this  country 
and  those,  where  a  courier  may  go  from  the  seat  of  go- 
vernment to  the  frontier  in  a  single  day,  it  was  then  cer- 
tainly foreseen  by  some  who  assisted  in  Congress  at  the 
formation  of  it,  that  it  could  not  be  durable. 

Negligence  of  its  regulations,  inattention  to  its  recom- 
.mendations,  if  not  disobedience  to  its  authority,  not  only 
in  individuals,  but  in  states,  soon  appeared  with  their  me- 
ancholy  consequences  ;  universal  languor  ;  jealousies  and 
rivalries  of  states  ;  decline  of  navigation  and  commerce  ; 
discouragement  of  necessary  manufactures;  universal  fall 
in  the  value  of  lands  and  their  produce;  contempt  of 
public  and  private  faith  ;  loss  of  consideration  and  credit 
with  foreign  nations ;  and,  at  length,  in  discontents,  ani- 
mosities, combinations,  partial  conventions,  and  insurrec- 
tion, threatening  some  great  national  calamity. 

In  this  dangerous  crisis,  the  people  of  America  were 
not  abandoned  by  their  usual  good  sense,  presence  of 
mind,  resolution,  or  integrity.  Measures  were  pursued 
to  concert  a  plan  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish 
justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  com- 
mon defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure 
the  blessings  of  liberty.  The  public  disquisitions,  dis- 
cussions, and  deliberations,  issued  in  the  present  happy 
constitution  of  government. 

Employed  in  the  service  of  my  country  abroad  during 
the  whole  course  of  these  transactions,  I  first  saw  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  in  a  foreign  country. 
Irritated  by  no  literary  altercation,  animated  by  no  public 
debate,  heated  by  no  party  animosity,  I  read  it  with  great 
satisfaction,  as  a  result  of  good  heads,  prompted  by  good 
hearts ;  as  an  experiment  better  adapted  to  the  genius, 
character,  situation,  and  relations  of  this  nation  and 
country,  than  any  which  had  ever  been  proposed  or  sug- 


ADAMS  S    INAUGURAL    ADDRESS. 

gested.  In  its  general  principles  and  great  outlines,  it 
was  conformable  to  such  a  system  of  government  as  I  had 
ever  most  esteemed,  and  some  states,  my  own  native 
state  in  particular,  had  contributed  to  establish.  Claim- 
ing a  right  of  suffrage,  in  common  with  my  fellow-citi- 
zens, in  the  adoption  or  rejection  of  a  constitution  which 
was  to  rule  me  and  my  posterity,  as  well  as  them  and 
theirs,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  express  my  approbation  of  it, 
on  all  occasions,  in  public  and  in  private.  It  was  not 
then,  nor  has  been  since,  any  objection  to  it,  in  my  mind, 
that  the  executive  and  senate  were  not  more  permanent. 
Nor  have  I  ever  entertained  a  thought  of  promoting  any 
alteration  in  it,  but  such  as  the  people  themselves,  in  the 
course  of  their  experience,  should  see  and  feel  to  be  ne- 
cessary or  expedient,  and  by  their  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress arid  the  state  legislatures,  according  to  the  consti- 
tution itself,  adopt  and  ordaii*. 

Returning  to  the  bosom  of  my  country,  after  a  painful 
separation  from  it  for  ten  years,  I  had  the  honor  to  be 
elected  to  a  station  under  the  new  order  of  things,  and  I 
have  repeatedly  laid  myself  under  the  most  serious  obli- 
gations to  support  the  constitution.  The  operation  of  it 
has  equalled  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  friends ; 
and,  from  an  habitual  attention  to  it,  satisfaction  in  its 
administration,  and  delight  in  its  effects  upon  the  peace, 
order,  prosperity,  and  happiness  of  the  nation,  I  have  ac- 
quired an  habitual  attachment  to  it,  and  veneration  for  it. 

What  other  form  of  government,  indeed,  can  so  well 
deserve  our  esteem  and  love  ? 

There  may  be  little  solidity  in  an  ancient  idea,  that 
congregations  of  men  into  cities  and  nations  are  the  most 
pleasing  objects  in  the  sight  of  superior  intelligences  : 
but  this  is  very  certain,  that,  to  a  benevolent  human  mind, 
there  can  be  no  spectacle  presented  by  any  nation  more 
pleasing,  more  noble,  majestic,  or  august,  than  an  as- 
sembly like  that  which  has  so  often  been  seen  in  this 
j>nd  the  other  chamber  of  Congress,  of  a  government,  in 
which  the  executive  authority,  as  well  as  that  of  all  the 
branches  of  the  legislature,  are  exercised  by  citizens  se- 
lected, at  regular  periods,  by  their  neighbors,  to  make 
and  execute  laws  for  the  general  good.  Can  any  thing 


3f>  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

<•-- Titial,  any  thing  more  than  mere  ornament  and  deco- 
ration, be  added  to  this  by  robes  and  diamonds  ?  Can 
authority  be  more  amiable  and  respectable,  when  it  de- 
scends from  accidents,  or  institutions  established  in  re- 
mote antiquity,  than  when  it  springs  fresh  from  the  hearts 
and  judgments  of  an  honest  and  enlightened  people  '? 
For  it  is  the  people  only  that  are  represented  :  it  is  their 
power  and  majesty  that  is  reflected,  and  only  for  their 
good,  in  every  legitimate  government,  under  whatever 
form  it  may  appear.  The  existence  of  such  a  govern- 
ment as  ours,  for  any  length  of  time,  is  a  full  proof  of  a 
general  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  virtue  through- 
out the  whole  body  of  the  people.  And  what  object  or 
consideration  more  pleasing  than  this,  can  be  presented 
to  the  human  mind  ?  If  national  pride  is  ever  justifiable, 
or  excusable,  it  is  when  it  springs,  not  from  power  or 
riches,  grandeur  or  glory,  but  from  conviction  of  national 
innocence,  information  and  benevolence. 

In  the  midst  of  these  pleasing  ideas,  we  should  be  un- 
faithful to  ourselves,  if  we  should  ever  lose  sight  of  the 
danger  to  our  liberties,  if  any  thing  partial  or  extraneous 
should  infect  the  purity  of  our  free,  fair,  virtuous,  and  in- 
dependent elections.  If  an  election  is  to  be  determined 
by  a  majority  of  a  single  vote,  and  that  can  be  procured 
by  a  party,  through  artifice  or  corruption,  the  government 
may  be  the  choice  of  a  party,  for  its  own  ends,  not  of 
the  nation  for  the  national  good.  If  that  solitary  suffrage 
can  be  obtained  by  foreign  nations  by  flattery  or  menaces, 
by  fraud  or  violence,  by  terror,  intrigue,  or  venality,  the 
government  may  not  be  the  choice  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, but  of  foreign  nations.  It  may  be  foreign  nations 
who  govern  us,  and  not  we,  the  people,  who  govern  our- 
selves. And  candid  men  will  acknowledge,  that  in  such 
cases,  choice  would  have  little  ad,  ant-ige  to  boast  of,  over 
lot  or  chance. 

Such  is  the  amiable  and  interesting  system  of  govern- 
ment (and  such  are  some  of  the  abuses  to  which  it  may 
be  exposed)  which  the  p  ople  of  America  have  exhibited 
to  the  admiration  and  anxiety  of  the  wise  and  virtuous  of 
all  nations  for  eight  years,  under  the  administration  of  a 
citizen  who,  by  a  long  course  of  great  actions,  regulated 


ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  37 

by  prudence,  justice,  temperance,  and  fortitude,  conduct- 
ing a  people,  inspired  with  the  same  virtues,  and   anima- 
ted with  the  same  ardent  patriotism  and  love  of  liberty, 
to  independence  and  peace,  to  increasing  wealth  and  un 
exampled  prosperity,  has  merited  the  gratitude  of  his  fel 
low-citizens,  commanded  the   mghest  praises  of  foreign 
nations,  and  secured  immortal  glory  with  posterity. 

In  that  retirement  which  is  his  voluntary  choice,  may 
he  long  live  to  enjoy  the  delicious  recollection  of  his  ser- 
vices, the  gratitude  of  mankind,  the  happy  fruits  of  them 
to  himself  and  the  world,  which  are  daily  increasing,  and 
that  splendid  prospect  of  the  future  fortunes  of  this  coun- 
try which  is  opening  from  year  to  year.  His  name  may 
be  still  a  rampart,  and  the  knowledge  that  he  lives,  a  bul- 
wark against  all  open  or  secret  enemies  of  his  country's 
peace.  This  example  has  been  recommended  to  the  imi- 
tation of  his  successors  by  both  houses  of  Congress,  and 
by  the  voice  of  the  legislatures  and  the  people  throughout 
the  nation. 

On  this  subject  it  might  become  iwe  better  to  be  silent, 
or  to  speak  with  diffidence ;  but,  as  something  may  be 
expected,  the  occasion,  I  hope,  will  be  admitted  as  an 
apology,  if  I  venture  to  say,  That, 

If  a  preference,  upon  principle,  of  a  free  republican 
government,  formed  upon  long  and  serious  reflection,  after 
a  diligent  and  impartial  inquiry  after  truth  ;  if  an  attach- 
ment to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  a  con- 
scientious determination  to  support  it,  until  it  shall  be  al- 
tered by  the  judgments  and  wishes  of  the  people,  express- 
ed in  the  mode  prescribed  in  it ;  if  a  respectful  attention 
to  the  constitutions  of  the  individual  states,  and  a  con- 
stant caution  and  delicacy  towards  the  state  governments  ; 
if  an  equal  and  impartial  regard  to  the  rights,  interest, 
honor,  and  happiness  of  all  the  states  in  the  Union,  with- 
out preference  or  regard  to  a  northern  or  southern,  an 
eastern  or  western  position,  their  various  political  opin- 
ions on  unessential  points,  or  their  personal  attachments; 
if  a  love  of  virtuous  men  of  all  parties  and  denomina- 
tions ;  if  a  love  of  science  and  letters,  and  a  wish  to  pa- 
tronize every  rational  effort  to  encourage  schools,  col- 
leges, universities,  academies,  and  every  institution  for  pro- 
4 


33  THE    TRUE    AMERICA*. 

pagating  knowledge,  virtue,  and  religion,  among  all  class- 
es of  the  people,  not  only  for  their   benign  influence  on 
the  happiness  of  life  in  all  its  stages  and   classes,  and  of 
society  in  all  its  forms,  but  as  the  only  means  of  preserv- 
ing our  constitution  from   its  natural  enemies,  the  spirit 
of°sophistry,  the  spirit  of  party,  the  spirit  of  intrigue,  the 
profligacy  of  corruption,  and  the  pestilence  of  foreign  in- 
fluence, which  is  the  angel  of  destruction  to  elective  go- 
vernments ;  if  a  love  of  equal  laws,  of  justice,   and   hu- 
manity in  the  interior  administration  ;  if  an  inclination  to 
improve  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures  for  ne- 
cessity, convenience,  and  defence ;  if  a  spirit  of  equity 
and  humanity  towards  the  aboriginal  nations  of  America, 
and  a  disposition  to  meliorate  their  condition  by  inclining 
them  to  be  more  friendly  to  us,   and   our  citizens  to  be 
more  friendly  to  them  ;  if  an  inflexible   determination  to 
maintain  peace  and  inviolable  faith  with  all   nations,  and 
that  system  of  neutrality  and  impartiality  among  the  bel- 
ligerent powers  of  Europe  which  has  been  adopted  by 
this    government,    and   so  solemnly  sanctioned   by  both 
houses  of  Congress,  and  applauded  by  the  legislatures  of 
the  states  and  the  public  opinion,  until   it  shall  be  other- 
wise ordained  by  Congress  ;  if  a  personal  esteem  for  the 
French  nation,   formed   in   a  residence  of  seven  years, 
chiefly   among  them,  and   a  sincere  desire  to  preserve 
the  friendship  which  has  been  so  much  for  the  honor  and 
interest  of  both  nations  ;  if,  while  the  conscious  honor  and 
integrity  of  the  people  of  America,  and  the  internal  senti- 
ment of  their  own  power  and  energies  must  be  preserved, 
an  earnest  endeavor  to  investigate  every  just  cause,  and 
remove  every  colorable  pretence  of  complaint ;  if  an  in- 
tention to  pursue  by  amicable  negotiation  a  reparation  for 
the  injuries  that  have  been   committed   on  the  commerce 
of  our  fellow-citizens  by  whatever  nation  ;  and  if  success 
cannot  be  obtained,  to  lay  the  facts  before  the  legislature, 
that  they  may  consider  what  further  measures  the  honor 
and  interest  of  the  government   and   its  constituents  de- 
mand ;  if  a  resolution  to  do  justice,  as  far  as  may  depend 
upon  me,  at  all  times  and  to  all   nations,   and   maintain 
peace,  friendship,   and   benevolence  with  all  the  world  ; 
if  an  unshaken  confidence  in  the  honor,  spirit,  and  re- 


ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.  30 

sources  of  the  American  people,  on  which  I  have  so  often 
hazarded  my  all,  and  never  been  deceived  ;  if  elevated 
ideas  of  the  high  destinies  of  this  country  and  of  my  own 
duties  towards  it,  founded  on  a  knowledge  of  the  moral 
principles  and  intellectual  improvements  of  the  people, 
deeply  engraven  on  my  mind  in  early  life,  and  not  obscu- 
red, but  exalted  by  experience  and  age;  and,  with  humble 
reverence,  I  feel  it  to  be  rny  duty  to  add,  if  a  veneration  for 
the  religion  of  a  people  who  profess  and  call  themselves 
Christians,  and  a  fixed  resolution  to  consider  a  decent 
respect  for  Christianity  among  the  best  recommendations 
for  the  public  service,  can  enable  me,  in  any  degree,  to 
comply  with  your  wishes,  it  shall  be  my  strenuous  endea- 
vor, that  this  sagacious  injunction  of  the  two  houses  shall 
not  be  without  effect. 

With  this  great  example  before  me,  with  the  sense  and 
spirit,  the  faith  and  honor,  the  duty  and  interest,  of  the 
same  American  people,  pledged  to  support  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  I  entertain  no  doubt  of  its  con- 
tinuance in  all  its  energy,  and  my  mind  is  prepared,  with- 
out hesitation,  to  lay  myself  under  the  most  solemn  obli- 
gations to  support  it  to  the  utmost  of  my  power. 

And  may  that  Being  who  is  supreme  over  all,  the  Pa- 
tron of  order,  the  Fountain  of  justice,  and  the  Protector, 
in  all  ages  of  the  world,  of  virtuous  liberty,  continue  his 
blessing  upon  this  nation  and  its  government,  and  give  it 
all  possible  success  and  duration  consistent  with  the  ends 
of  his  Providence. 


ADAMS'S    FIRST   ANNUAL   ADDRESS, 

NOVEMBER   23,    1797. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  was  for  some  time  apprehensive  that  it  would  be  ne- 
cessary, on  account  of  the  contagious  sickness  which  af- 
flicted the  city  of  Philadelphia,  to  convene  the  national 
legislature  at  some  other  place.  This  measure  it  was 


40  THE    TRCE    AMERICAN. 

desirable  to  avoid,  because  it  would  occasion  much  public 
inconvenience,  and  a  considerable  public  expense,  and 
add  to  the  calamities  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  whose 
sufferings  must  have  excited  the  sympathy  of  all  their  fel- 
low-citizens;  therefore,  after  taking  measures  to  ascer- 
tain the  state  and  decline  of  the  sickness,  I  postponed 
my  determination,  having  hopes,  now  happily  realized, 
that,  without  hazard  to  the  lives  of  the  members,  Con- 
gress might  assemble  at  this  place,  where  it  was  by  law 
next  to  meet.  I  submit,  however,  to  your  consideration, 
whether  a  power  to  postpone  the  meeting  of  Congress, 
without  passing  the  time  fixed  by  the  constitution,  upon 
such  occasions,  would  not  be  a  useful  amendment  to  the 
law  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four. 

Although  I  cannot  yet  congratulate  you  on  the  re- 
establishment  of  peace  in  Europe,  and  the  restoration  of 
security  to  the  persons  and  properties  of  our  citizens 
from  injustice  and- violence  at  sea;  we  have,  nevertheless, 
abundant  cause  of  gratitude  to  the  Source  of  benevo- 
lence and  influence,  for  interior  tranquillity  and  personal 
security,  for  propitious  seasons,  prosperous  agriculture, 
productive  fisheries,  and  general  improvements,  and, 
above  all,  for  a  rational  spirit  of  civil  and  religious  liber- 
ty, and  a  calm  but  steady  determination  to  support  our 
sovereignty,  as  well  as  our  moral  and  religious  principles, 
agairnl  all  open  and  secret  attacks. 

Our  envoys  extraordinary  to  the  French  republic  em- 
barked, one  in  July,  the  other  early  in  August,  to  join 
their  colleague  in  Holland.  I  have  received  intelligence 
of. the  arrival  of  both  of  them  in  Holland,  from  whence 
they  all  proceeded  on  their  journey  to  Paris,  within  a  few 
days  of  the  19th  of  September.  Whatever  may  be  the 
result  of  this  mission,  I  trust  that  nothing  will  have  been 
omitted,  on  my  part,  to  conduct  the  negotiation  to  a  suc- 
cessful conclusion,  on  such  equitable  terms  as  may  be 
compatible  with  the  safety,  honor,  and  interest  of  the 
Iniied  States.  Nothing,  in  the  mean  time,  will  contri- 
bute so  much  to  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  the  at- 
tainment of  justice,  as  a  manifestation  of  that  energy 
and  unanimity,  of  which,  on  many  former  occasions,  the 
people  of  the  United  States  have  given  such  memorable 


ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.  41 

proofs,  and  the  exertion  of  those  resources  for  national 
defence  which  a  beneficent  Providence  has  kindly  placed 
within  their  power. 

It  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  nothing  has  occur- 
red, since  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  which  renders  in- 
expedient those  precautionary  measures  recommended  by 
me  to  the  consideration  of  the  two  houses,  at  the  open- 
ing of  your  late  extraordinary  session.  If  that  system 
was  then  prudent,  it  is  more,  so  now,  as  increasing  depre- 
dations strengthen  the  reasons  for  its  adoption. 

Indeed,  whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  the  negotiation 
with  France,  and  whether  the  war  in  Europe  is,  or  is  not, 
to  continue,  I  hold  it  most  certain,  that  permanent  tran- 
quillity and  order  will  not  soon  be  obtained.  The  state 
of  society  has  so  long  been  disturbed,  the  sense  of  moral 
and  religious  obligations  so  much  weakened,  public  faith 
and  national  honor  have  been  so  impaired,  respect  to  trea- 
ties has  been  so  diminished,  and  the  law  of  nations  has 
lost  so  much  of  its  force  ;  while  pride,  ambition,  avarice, 
and  violence,  have  been  so  long  unrestrained,  there  re- 
mains no  reasonable  ground  on  which  to  raise  an  expec- 
tation, that  a  commerce  without  protection  or  defence 
will  not  be  plundered. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States  is  essential,  if  not 
to  their  existence,  at  least  to  their  comfort,  their  growth, 
prosperity,  and  happiness.  The  genius,  character,  and 
habits  of  the  people  are  highly  commercial ;  their  cities 
have  been  formed  and  exist  upon  commerce ;  our  agri- 
culture, fisheries,  arts,  and  manufactures,  are  connected 
with  and  depend  upon  it.  In  short,  commerce  has  made 
this  country  what  it  is,  and  it  cannot  be  destroyed  or  ne- 
glected without  involving  the  people  in  poverty  and  dis- 
tress. Great  numbers  are  directly  and  solely  supported 
by  navigation  ;  the  faith  of  society  is  pledged  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  rights  of  commercial  and  seafaring,  no 
less  than  of  the  other  citizens.  Under  this  view  of  our 
affairs,  I  should  hold  myself  guilty  of  a  neglect  of  duty, 
if  I  forbore  to  recommend  that  we  should  make  every  ex- 
ertion to  protect  our  commerce,  and  to  place  our  country 
in  a  suitable  posture  of  defence,  as  the  only  sure  means- 
of  preserving  both. 
4* 


42  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

I  have  entertained  an  expectation  that  it  would  have 
been  in  my  power,  at  the  opening  of  this  session,  to  have 
communicated  to  you  the  agreeahle  information  of  the 
due  execution  of  our  treaty  with  his  Catholic  majesty, 
respecting  the  withdrawing  of  his  troops  from  our  terri- 
tory, and  the  demarkation  of  the  line  of  limits  ;  but,  by 
the  latest  authentic  intelligence,  Spanish  garrisons  were 
still  continued  within  our  country,  and  the  running  of 
the  boundary  line  had  not  been  commenced ;  these  cir- 
cumstances are-the  more  to 'DC  regretted,  as  they  cannot 
fail  to  affect  the  Indians  in  a  manner  injurious  to  the  Uni- 
ted States.  Still,  however,  indulging  the  hope  that  the 
answers  which  have  been  given  will  remove  the  objec- 
tions offered  by  the  Spanish  officers  to  the  immediate 
execution  of  the  treaty,  I  have  judged  it  proper  that  we 
should  continue  in  readiness  to  receive  the  posts,  and  to 
run  the  line  of  limits,.  Further  information  on  this  sub- 
ject will  be  communicated  in  the  course  of  the  session. 

In  connection  with  this  unpleasant  state  of  things  on 
our  western  frontier,  it  is  proper  for  me  to  mention  the 
attempts  of  foreign  agents  to  alienate  the  affections  of 
the  Indian  nations,  and  to  excite  them  to  actual  hostili- 
ties against  the  United  States;  great  activity  has  been 
exerted  by  those  persons  who  have  insinuated  themselves 
amonjr  the  Indian  tribes  residing  within  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  to  influence  them  to  transfer  their  af- 
fections and  force  to  a  foreign  nation,  to  form  them  into 
a  confederacy,  and  prepare  them  for  a  war  against  the 
L  uited  States.  Although  measures  have  been  taken  to 
counteract  these  infractions  of  our  rights,  to  prevent 
Indian  hostilities,  and  to  preserve  entire  their  attachment 
to  the  United  States,  it  is  my  duty  to  observe,  that,  to 
give  a  better  effect  to  these  measures,  and  to  obviate  the 
consequences  of  a  repetition  of  such  practices,  a  law 
providing  adequate  punishment  for  such  offences  may  be 
necessary. 

The  commissioners  appointed  under  the  fifth  article  of 
the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce  and  navigation  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  to  ascertain  the  river 
which  was  truly  intended  under  the  name  of  the  river  St 
Croix,  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  met  at  Passa. 


ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.  43 

maquoddy  Bay,  in  October,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-six,  and  viewed  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  in, 
question,  and  adjacent  shores  on  the  islands;  and  being 
of  opinion,  that  actual  surveys  of  both  rivers,  to  their 
sources,  were  necessary,  gave  to  the  agents  of  the  two 
nations  instructions  for  that  purpose,  and  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Boston,  in  August.  They  met ;  but  the  surveys 
requiring  more  time  than  had  been  supposed,  and  not 
being  then  completed,  the  commissioners  again  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Providence,  in  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  in 
June  next,  when  we  may  expect  a  final  examination  and 
decision. 

The  commissioners  appointed  in  pursuance  of  the  sixth 
article  of  the  treaty,  met  at  Philadelphia,  in  May  last,  to 
examine  the  claims  of  British  subjects  for  debts  contract- 
ed before  the  peace,  and  still  remaining  due  to  them  from 
citizens  or  inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  Various 
causes  have  hitherto  prevented  any  determinations  ;  but 
the  business  is  now  resumed,  and  doubtless  will  be  prose- 
cuted without  interruption. 

Several  decisions  on  the  claims  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  for  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  reason 
of  irregular  and  illegal  captures  or  condemnations  of 
their  vessels  or  other  property,  have  been  made  by  the 
commissioners  in  London,  conformably  to  the  seventh 
article  of  the  treaty.  The  sums  awarded  by  the  commis- 
sioners have  been  paid  by  the  British  government ;  a  con- 
siderable number  of  other  claims,  where  costs  and  dama- 
ges, and  not  captured  property,  were  the  only  objects  in 
question,  have  been  decided  by  arbitration,  and  the  sums 
awarded  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  also 
been  paid. 

The  commissioners  appointed,  agreeably  to  the  twenty- 
first  article  of  our  treaty  with  Spain,  met  at  Philadelphia, 
in  the  summer  past,  to  examine  and  decide  on  the  claims 
of  our  citizens  for  losses  they  have  sustained  in  conse- 
quence of  their  vessels  and  cargoes  having  been  taken  by 
the  subjects  of  his  CathoKc  majesty,  during  the  late  war 
between  Spain  and  France.  Their  sittings  have  been 
interrupted,  but  are  now  resumed. 

The  United  States,  being  obligated  to  make  compensa-* 


44  THE    TftUE    AMERICAN. 

tion  for  the  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  British  sub- 
jects, upon  the  award  of  the  commissioners  acting  under 
the  sixth  article  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  for  the 
losses  and  damages  sustained  by  British  subjects,  by  rea- 
son of  the  capture  of  their  vessels  and  merchandise,  taken 
within  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  the  United  State?, 
and  brought  into  their  ports,  or  taken  by  vessels  origi- 
nally armed  in  ports  of  the  United  States,  upon  the  awards 
of  the  commissioners,  acting  under  the  seventh  article  of 
the  same  treaty ;  it  is  necessary  that  provision  be  made 
for  fulfilling  these  obligations. 

The  numerous  captures  of  American  vessels  by  the 
cruisers  of  the  French  republic,  and  of  some  of  those  of 
Spain,  have  occasioned  considerable  expenses  in  making 
and  supporting  the  claims  of  our  citizens  before  their 
tribunals.  The  sums  required  for  this  purpose  have,  in 
divers  instances,  been  disbursed  by  the  consuls  of  the 
United  States.  By  means  of  the  same  captures,  great 
numbers  of  our  seamen  have  been  thrown  ashore  in  for- 
eign countries,  destitute  of  all  means  of  subsistence,  and 
the  sick,  in  particular,  have  been  exposed  to  grievous  suf- 
ferings. The  consuls  have,  in  these  cases  also,  advanced 
money  for  their  relief;  for  these  advances  they  reasonably 
expect  reimbursements  from  the  United  States. 

The  consular  act,  relative  to  seamen,  requires  revision 
and  amendment ;  the  provisions  for  their  support  in  for- 
eign countries,  and  for  their  return,  are  found  to  be  inad- 
equate and  ineffectual.  Another  provision  seems  neces- 
sary to  be  added  to  the  consular  act;  some  foreign  ves- 
sels have  been  discovered  sailing  under  the  flag  of  the 
United  States,  and  with  forged  papers  ;  it  seldom  happens 
that  the  consuls  can  detect  this  deception,  because  they 
have  no  authority  to  demand  an  inspection  of  the  regis- 
ters and  sea-letters. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

It  is  my  duty  to  recommend  to  your  serious  considera- 
tion those  objects,  which,  by  the  constitution,  are  placed 
particularly  within  your  sphere,  the  national  debts  and 
taxes. 

Since  the  decay  of  the  feudal  system,  by  which  the 


JEFFERSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  45 

public  defence  was  provided  for  chiefly  at  the  expense  of 
individuals,  the  system  of  loans  has  been  introduced  ;  and 
as  no  nation  can  raise  within  the  year,  by  taxes,  sufficient 
sums  for  the  defence  and  military  operations  in  time  of 
war,  the  sums  loaned  and  debts  contracted  have  necessa- 
rily become  the  subjects  of  what  have  been  called  fund- 
ing systems.  The  consequences  arising  from  the  contin- 
ual accumulation  of  public  debts  in  other  countries,  ought 
to  admonish  us  to  be  careful  to  prevent  their  growth  in 
our  own.  The  national  defence  must  be  provided  for,  as 
well  as  the  support  of  government  ;  but  both  should  be 
accomplished,  as  much  as  possible,  by  immediate  taxes, 
and  as  little  as  possible  by  loans. 

The  estimates  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year  will, 
by  my  direction,  be  laid  before  you. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

We  are  met  together  at  a  most  interesting  period.  The 
situations  of  the  principal  powers  of  Europe  are  singular 
and  portentous.  Connected  with  some  by  treaties,  and 
with  all  by  commerce,  no  important  event  there  can  be 
indifferent  to  us.  Such  circumstances  call  with  peculiar 
importunity,  not  less  for  a  disposition  to  unite  in  all  those 
measures  on  which  the  honor,  safety,  and  prosperity  of 
our  country  depend,  than  for  all  the  exertions  of  wisdom 
and  firmness. 

In  all  such  measures,  you  may  rely  on  my  zealous  and 
hearty  concurrence. 


JEFFERSON'S   INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 

MARCH    4,  1801, 

Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens  : 

Called  upon  to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  first  execu- 
tive office  of  our  country,  I  avail  myself  of  the  presence 
of  that  portion  of  my  fellow-citizens  which  is  here  as- 
sembled, to  express  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  favor  with 


46  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

which  they  have  been  pleased  to  look  towards  roe,  to  de- 
clare a  sincere  consciousness  that  the  task  is  above  my 
talents,  and  that  I  approach  it  with  those  anxious  and  aw- 
ful presentiments,  which  the  greatness  of  the  charge,  and 
the  weakness  of  my  powers,  so  justly  inspire.  A  rising 
nation,  spread  over  a  wide  and  fruitful  land,  traversing  all 
the  seas  with  the  rich  productions  of  their  industry,  en- 
gaged in  commerce  with  nations  who  feel  power  and  for- 
get right,  advancing  rapidly  to  destinies  beyond  the  reach 
of  mortal  eye ;  when  I  contemplate  these  transcendent 
objects,  and  see  the  honor,  the  happiness,  and  the  hopes 
of  this  beloved  country  committed  to  the  issue  and  the 
auspices  of  this  day,  I  shrink  from  the  contemplation,  and 
humble  myself  before  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking. 
Utterly  indeed  should  I  despair,  did  not  the  presence  of 
many  whom  I  here  see  remind  me  that,  in  the  other  high 
authorities  provided  by  our  constitution,  I  shall  find  re- 
sources of  wisdom,  of  virtue,  and  of  zeal,  on  which  to 
rely  under  all  difficulties.  To  you,  then,  gentlemen,  who 
are  charged  with  the  sovereign  functions  of  legislation, 
and  to  those  associated  with  you,  I  look  with  encourage- 
ment for  that  guidance  and  support  which  may  enable  us 
to  steer  with  safety  the  vessel  in  which  we  are  all  em- 
oarked,  amid  the  conflicting  elements  of  a  troubled  world. 
During  the  contest  of  opinion  through  which  we  have 
passed,  the  animation  of  discussion  and  of  exertions  has 
sometimes  worn  an  aspect  which  might  impose  on  stran- 
gers unused  to  think  freely,  and  to  speak  and  to  write 
what  they  think  ;  but  this  being  now  decided  by  the  voice 
of  the  nation,  announced  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
constitution,  all  will  of  course  arrange  themselves  under 
the  will  of  the  law,  and  unite  in  common  efforts  for  the 
common  good.  All  too  will  bear  in  mind  this  sacred 
principle,  that  though  the  will  of  the  majority  is  in  all 
cases  to  prevail,  that  will,  to  be  rightful,  must  be  reason- 
able ;  that  the  minority  possess  their  equal  rights,  which 
equal  law  must  protect,  and  to  violate,  would  be  oppres- 
sion. Let  us  then,  fellow-citizens,  unite  with  one  heart 
and  one  mind,  let  us  restore  to  social  intercourse  that 
harmony  and  affection,  without  which  liberty,  and  even 
life  itself,  are  but  dreary  things.  And  let  us  reflect,  that, 


JEFFERSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  47 

having  banished  from  our  land  that  religious  intolerance 
under  which  mankind  so  long  bled  and  suffered,  we  have 
yet  gained  little,  if  we  countenance  a  political  intole- 
rance, as  despotic,  as  wicked,  and  capable  of  as  bitter  and 
bloody  persecutions.  During  the  throes  and  convulsions 
of  the  ancient  world,  during  the  agonizing  spasms  of  in- 
furiated man,  seeking  through  blood  and  slaughter  his 
long-lost  liberty,  it  was  not  wonderful  that  the  agitation 
of  the  billows  should  reach  even  this  distant  and  peaceful 
shore ;  that  this  should  be  more  felt  and  feared  by  some, 
and  less  by  others;  that  this  should  divide  opinions  as  to 
measures  of  safety ;  but  every  difference  of  opinion  is 
not  a  difference  of  principle.  We  have  called  by  different 
names  brethren  of  the  same  principle.  We  are  all  repub- 
licans ;  we  are  all  federalists.  If  there  be  any  among 
us  who  would  wish  to  dissolve  this  Union,  or  to  change 
its  republican  form,  let  them  stand  undisturbed  as  monu- 
ments of  the  safety  with  which  error  of  opinion  may  be 
tolerated,  where  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it.  I  know 
indeed  that  some  honest  men  fear  that  a  republican  gov- 
ernment cannot  be  strong ;  that  this  government  is  not 
strong  enough.  But  would  the  honest  patriot,  in  the  full 
tide  of  successful  experiment,  abandon  a  government  which 
has  so  far  kept  us  free  and  firm,  on  the  theoretic  and  vis- 
ionary fear  that  this  government,  the  world's  best  hope, 
may,  by  possibility,  want  energy  to  preserve  itself?  I 
trust  not.  I  believe  this,  on  the  contrary,  the  strongest 
government  on  earth.  I  believe  it  the  only  one  where 
every  man,  at  the  call  of  the  laws,  would  fly  to  the  stan- 
dard of  the  law,  and  would  meet  invasions  of  the  public 
order  as  his  own  personal  concern.  Sometimes  it  is  said 
that  man  cannot  be  trusted  with  the  government  of  him- 
self. Can  he  then  be  trusted  with  the  government  of 
others  ;  or  have  we  found  angels  in  the  forms  of  kings  to 
govern  him?  Let  history  answer  this  question. 

Let  us  then,  with  courage  and  confidence,  pursue  our 
own  federal  and  republican  principles,  our  attachment  to 
our  union  and  representative  government.  Kindly  sepa- 
rated by  nature  and  a  wide  ocean  from  the  exterminating 
havoc  of  one  quarter  of  the  globe ;  too  high-minded  to 
endure  the  degradations  of  the  others ;  possessing  a 


48  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

chosen  country,  with  room  enough  for  our  descendants 
to  the  thousandth  and  thousandth  generation :  entertain- 
ing a  due  sense  of  our  equal  right  to  the  use  of  our  own 
faculties,  to  the  acquisitions  of  our  industry,  to  honor  and 
confidence  from  our  fellow-citizens,  resulting  not  from 
birth,  but  from  our  actions  and  their  sense  of  them ;  en- 
lightened by  a  benign  religion,  professed  indeed  and 
practised  in  various  forms,  yet  all  of  them  including 
honesty,  truth,  temperance,  gratitude,  and  the  love  of 
man,  acknowledging  and  adoring  an  overruling  Provi- 
dence, which,  by  all  its  dispensations,  proves  that  it  de- 
lights in  the  happiness  of  man  here,  nnd  his  greater  hap- 
piness hereafter ;  with  all  these  blessings,  what  more  is 
necessary  to  make  us  a  happy  and  prosperous  people  ? 
Still  one  thing  more,  fellow-citizens — a  wise  and  frugal 
government,  which  shall  restrain  men  from  injuring  one 
another,  shall  leave  them  otherwise  free  to  regulate  their 
own  pursuits  of  industry  and  improvement,  and  shall  not 
take  from  the  mouth  of  labor  the  bread  it  has  earned. 
This  is  the  sum  of  good  government,  and  this  is  neces- 
sary to  close  the  circle  of  our  felicities. 

About  to  enter,  fellow-citizens,  on  the  exercise  of 
duties  which  comprehend  every  thing  dear  and  valuable 
to  you,  it  is  proper  that  you  should  understand  what  I 
deem  the  essential  principles  of  our  government,  and 
consequently  those  which  ought  to  shape  its  administra- 
tion. I  will  compress  them  within  the  narrowest  compass 
they  will  bear,  stating  the  'general  principles,  but  not  all 
its  limitations.  Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  of 
whatever  state  or  persuasion,  religious  or  political :  peace, 
commerce,  and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations,  entan- 
gling alliances  with  none  ;  the  support  of  the  state  govern- 
ments in  all  their  rights,  as  the  most  competent  adminis- 
trations for  our  domestic  concerns,  and  the  surest  bulwarks 
against  anti-republican  tendencies  ;  the  preservation  of 
the  general  government  in  its  whole  constitutional  vigor, 
as  the  sheet  anchor  of  our  peace  at  home  and  safety 
abroad ;  a  jealous  care  of  the  right  of  election  by  the 
people;  a  mild  and  safe  corrective  of  abuses,  which  are 
lopped  by  the  sword  of  revolution,  where  peaceable 
remedies  are  unprovided;  absolute  acquiescence  in  the 


JEFFERSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  49 

decisions  of  the  majority,  the  vital  principle  of  republics, 
from  which  is  no  appeal  but  to  force,  the  vital  principle 
and  immediate  parent  of  despotism ;  a  well-disciplined 
militia,  our  best  reliance  in  peace,  and  for  the  first  moments 
of  war,  till  regulars  may  relieve  them ;  the  supremacy  ot 
the  civil  over  the  military  authority ;  economy  in  the 
public  expense,  that  labor  may  be  lightly  burdened;  the 
honest  payment  of  our  debts,  and  sacred  preservation  of 
the  public  faith ;  encouragement  of  agriculture,  and  of 
commerce  as  its  handmaid;  the  diffusion  of  information, 
and  arraignment  of  all  abuses  at  the  bar  of  public  reason  ; 
freedom  of  religion  ;  freedom  of  the  press  ;  and  freedom 
of  person,  under  the  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus  ; 
and  trial  by  juries  impartially  selected.  These  principles 
form  the  bright  constellation  which  has  gone  before  us, 
and  guided  our  steps  through  an  age  of  revolution  and 
reformation.  The  wisdom  of  our  sages  and  blood  of  our 
heroes  have  been  devoted  to  their  attainment :  they  should 
be  the  creed  of  our  political  faith ;  the  text  of  civil  in- 
struction ;  the  touchstone  by  which  to  try  the  services 
of  those  we  trust ;  and  should  we  wander  from  them  in 
moments  of  error  or  alarm,  let  us  hasten  to  retrace  our 
steps,  and  to  regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to  peace, 
liberty,  and  safety. 

I  repair,  then,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  post  you  have 
assigned  me.  With  experience  enough  in  subordinate 
offices  to  have  seen  the  difficulties  of  this,  the  greatest  of 
all,  I  have  learnt  to  expect  that  it  will  rarely  fall  to  the 
lot  of  imperfect  man  to  retire  from  this  station  with  the 
reputation  and  the  favor  which  bring  him  into  it.  With- 
out pretensions  to  that  high  confidence  you  reposed  in 
our  first  and  great  revolutionary  character,  whose  pre- 
eminent services  had  entitled  him  to  the  first  place  in  his 
country's  love,  and  destined  for  him  the  fairest  page  in 
the  volume  of  faithful  history,  I  ask  so  much  confidence 
only  as  may  give  firmness  and  effect  to  the  legal  admin- 
istration of  your  affairs.  I  shall  often  go  wrong  through 
defect  of  judgment.  When  right,  I  shall  often  be  thought 
wrong  by  those  whose  positions  will  not  command  a  view 
of  the  whole  ground.  I  ask  your  indulgence  for  my  own 
errors,  which  will  never  be  intentional ;  and  your  sup» 
5 


50  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

port  against  the  errors  of  others,  who  may  condemn  what 
they  would  not,  if  seen  in  all  its  parts.  The  approbation 
implied  by  your  suffrage  is  a  consolation  to  me  for  the 
past ;  and  my  future  solicitude  will  be,  to  retain  the  good 
opinion  of  those  who  have  bestowed  it  in  advance,  to 
conciliate  that  of  others  by  doing  them  all  the  good  in 
my  power,  and  to  be  instrumental  to  the  happiness  and 
freedom  of  all. 

Relying,  then,  on  the  patronage  of  your  good  will,  I 
advance  with  obedience  to  the  work,  ready  to  retire  from 
it  whenever  you  become  sensible  how  much  better  choices 
it  is  in  your  power  to  make.  And  may  that  infinite  Power 
which  rules  the  destinies  of  the  universe,  lead  our  coun- 
cils to  what  is  best,  and  give  them  a  favorable  issue  for 
your  peace  and  prosperity. 


DECEMBER  8,  1801. 

SIR  :  The  circumstances  under  which  we  find  our- 
selves at  this  place  rendering  inconvenient  the  mode 
heretofore  practised,  of  making  by  personal  address  the 
first  communication  between  the  legislative  and  executive 
branches,  I  have  adopted  that  by  message,  as  used  on  all 
subsequent  occasions  through  the  session.  In  doing  this, 
I  have  had  principal  regard  to  the  inconvenience  of  the 
legislature,  to  the  economy  of  their  time,  to  their  relief 
from  the  embarrassment  of  immediate  answers  on  subjects 
not  yet  fully  before  them,  and  to  the  benefits  thence  re- 
sulting to  the  public  affairs.  Trusting  that  a  procedure 
founded  in  these  motives  will  meet  their  approbation,  I 
beg  leave,  through  you,  sir,  to  communicate  the  enclosed 
message,  with  the  documents  accompanying  it,  to  the 
honorable  the  Senate,  and  pray  you  to  accept,  for  your- 
self and  them,  the  homage  of  my  high  respect  and  con- 
sideration. THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

The  Hon.  the 
PRESIDENT  or  THE  SENATE. 


JEFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  51 

JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER   8,    1801. 

Fdlmo-Cltizr.ns  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

It  is  a  circumstance  of  sincere  gratification  to  me  that, 
on  meeting  the  great  council  of  our  nation,  I  am  able  to 
announce  to  them,  on  grounds  of  reasonable  certainty, 
that  the  wars  and  troubles  which  have  for  so  many  years 
afflicted  our  sister-nations,  have  at  length  come  to  an  end, 
and  that  the  communications  of  peace  and  commerce  are 
once  more  opening  among  them.  Whilst  we  devoutly 
return  thanks  to  the  beneficent  Being  who  has  been 
pleased  to  breathe  into  them  the  spirit  of  conciliation  and 
forgiveness,  we  are  bound,  with  peculiar  gratitude,  to  be 
thankful  to  him  that  our  own  peace  has  been  preserved 
through  so  perilous  a  season,  and  ourselves  permitted 
quietly  to  cultivate  the  earth,  and  to  practise  and  improve 
those  arts  which  tend  to  increase  our  comforts.  The 
assurances,  indeed,  of  friendly  disposition,  received  from 
all  the  powers  with  whom  we  have  principal  relations,  had 
inspired  a  confidence  that  our  peace  with  them  would  not 
have  been  disturbed.  But  a  cessation  of  irregularities 
which  had  affected  the  commerce  of  neutral  nations,  and 
of  the  irritations  and  injuries  produced  by  them,  cannot 
but  add  to  this  confidence,  and  strengthens,  at  the  same 
time,  the  hope  that  wrongs  committed  on  unoffending 
friends,  under  a  pressure  of  circumstances,  will  now  be 
reviewed  with  candor,  and  will  be  considered  as  founding 
just  claims  of  retribution  for  the  past,  and  new  assurances 
for  the  future. 

Among  our  Indian  neighbors,  also,  a  spirit  of  peace 
and  friendship  generally  prevails ;  and  I  am  happy  to 
inform  you  that  the  continued  efforts  to  introduce  among 
them  the  implements  and  the  practice  of  husbandry  and 
of  the  household  arts,  have  not  been  without  success  ; 
that  they  are  becoming  more  and  more  sensible  of  the 
superiority  of  this  dependence  for  clothing  and  subsist- 
ence, over  the  precarious  resources  of  hunting  and  fish- 


62  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ing  ;  and  already  we  are  able  to  announce  that,  instead 
of  that  constant  diminution  of  their  numbers,  produced 
by  their  wars  and  their  wants,  some  of  them  begin  to 
experience  an  increase  of  population. 

To  this  state  of  general  peace  with  which  we  have 
been  blessed,  one  only  exception  exists.  Tripoli,  the  least 
considerable  of  the  Barbary  states,  had  come  forward 
with  demands  unfounded  either  in  right  or  in  compact, 
and  had  permitted  itself  to  denounce  war,  on  our  failure 
to  comply  before  a  given  day.  The  style  of  the  demand  ad- 
mitted but  one  answer.  I  sent  a  small  squadron  of  frigates 
into  the  Mediterranean,  with  assurances  to  that  power  of 
our  sincere  desire  to  remain  in  peace;  but  with  orders 
to  protect  our  commerce  against  the  threatened  attack. 
The  measure  was  seasonable  and  salutary.  The  Bey  had 
already  declared  war.  His  cruisers  were  out.  Two  had 
arrived  at  Gibraltar.  Our  commerce  in  the  Mediterranean 
was  blockaded,  and  that  of  the  Atlantic  in  peril.  The 
arrival  of  our  squadron  dispelled  the  danger.  One  of  the 
Tripolitan  cruisers,  having  fallen  in  with  and  engaged 
the  small  schooner  Enterprise,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Sterret,  which  had  gone  as  a  tender  to  our  larger  vessels, 
was  captured,  after  a  heavy  slaughter  of  her  men,  with- 
out the  loss  of  a  single  one  on  our  part.  The  bravery 
exhibited  by  our  citizens  on  that  element  will,  I  trust,  be 
a  testimony  to  the  world  that  it  is  not  the  want  of  that 
virtue  which  makes  us  seek  their  peace,  but  a  conscien- 
tious desire  to  direct  the  energies  of  our  nation  to  the 
multiplication  of  the  human  race,  and  not  to  its  destruc- 
tion. Unauthorized  by  the  constitution,  without  the 
tion  of  Congress,  to  go  beyond  the  line  of  defence, 
the  vessel,  being  disabled  from  committing  further  hosti- 
lities, was  liberated  with  its  crew.  The  legislature  will 
doubtless  consider  whether,  by  authorizing  measures  of 
ortrnce  also,  they  will  place  our  force  on  an  equal  footing 
with  that  of  its  adversaries.  I  communicate  all  material 
information  on  this  subject,  that,  in  the  exercise  of  this 
important  function  confided  by  the  constitution  to  the 
It  in-lature  exclusively,  their  judgment  may  form  itself  on 
a  knowledge  and  consideration  of  every  circumstance  of 
weight. 


JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  53 

I  wish  I  could  say  that  our  situation  with  all  the  other 
Barbary  states  was  entirely  satisfactory.  Discovering 
that  some  delays  had  taken  place  in  the  performance  of 
certain  articles  stipulated  by  us,  I  thought  it  my  duty,  by 
immediate  measures  for  fulfilling  them,  to  vindicate  to 
ourselves  the  right  of  considering  the  effect  of  departure 
from  stipulation  on  their  side.  From  the  papers  which 
will  be  laid  before  you,  you  will  be  enabled  to  judge  whe- 
ther our  treaties  are  regarded  by  them  as  fixing  at  all  the 
measure  of  their  demands,  or  as  guarding  from  the  exer- 
cise of  force  our  vessels  within  their  power ;  and  to  con- 
sider how  far  it  will  be  safe  and  expedient  to  leave  our 
affairs  with  them  in  their  present  posture. 

I  lay  before  you  the  result  of  the  census  lately  taken 
of  our  inhabitants,  to  a  conformity  with  which  we  are 
now  to  reduce  the  ensuing  ratio  of  representation  and 
taxation.  You  will  perceive  that  the  increase  of  num- 
bers, during  the  last  ten  years,  proceeding  in  geometrical 
ratio,  promises  a  duplication  in  little  more  than  twenty- 
two  years.  We  contemplate  this  rapid  growth,  and  the 
prospect  it  holds  up  to  us,  not  with  a  view  to  the  injuries 
it  may  enable  us  to  do  to  others  in  some  future  day,  but 
to  the  settlement  of  the  extensive  country  still  remaining 
vacant  within  our  limits,  to  the  multiplication  of  men 
susceptible  of  happiness,  educated  in  the  love  of  order, 
habituated  to  self-government,  and  valuing  its  blessings 
above  all  price. 

Other  circumstances,  combined  with  the  increase  of 
numbers,  have  produced  an  augmentation  of  revenue 
arising  from  consumption,  in  a  ratio  far  beyond  that  of 
population  alone  ;  and,  though  the  changes  of  foreign 
relations  now  taking  place,  so  desirable  for  the  world, 
may  for  a  season  affect  this  branch  of  revenue,  yet,  weigh- 
ing all  probabilities  of  expense,  as  well  as  of  income, 
there  is  reasonable  ground  of  confidence  that  we  may 
now  safely  dispense  with  all  the  internal  taxes — compre- 
hending excise,  stamps,  auctions,  licenses,  carriages,  and 
refined  sugars ;  to  which  the  postage  on  newspapers  may 
be  added,  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  information  ;  and 
that  the  remaining  sources  of  revenue  will  be  sufficient 
to  provide  for  the  support  of  government,  to  pay  the  inte-> 

D 


54  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

rest  of  the  public  debts,  and  to  discharge  the  principals 
within  shorter  periods  than  the  laws  of  the  general  expect- 
ation had  contemplated.  War,  indeed,  and  untoward 
events,  may  change  this  prospect  of  things,  and  call  for 
expenses  which  the  imposts  could  not  meet.  But  sound 
principles  will  not  justify  our  taxing  the  industry  of  our 
fellow-citizens  to  accumulate  treasure  for  wars  to  happen 
we  know  not  when,  and  which  might  not  perhaps  happen, 
but  from  the  temptations  offered  by  that  treasure. 

These  views,  however,  of  reducing  our  burdens,  are 
formed  on  the  expectation  that  a  sensible,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  a  salutary  reduction  may  take  place  in  our 
habitual  expenditures.  For  this  purpose,  those  of  the 
civil  government,  the  army,  and  navy,  will  need  revisal. 
When  we  consider  that  this  government  is  charged  with 
the  external  arid  mutual  relations  only  of  these  states ; 
that  the  states  themselves  have  principal  care  of  our  per- 
sons, our  property,  and  our  reputation,  constituting  the 
great  field  of  human  concerns,  we  may  well  doubt  whe- 
ther our  organization  is  not  too  complicated,  too  expen- 
sive ;  whether  offices  and  officers  have  not  been  multiplied 
unnecessarily,  and  sometimes  injuriously  to  the  service 
they  were  meant  to  promote.  I  will  cause  to  be  laid 
before  you  an  essay  towards  a  statement  of  those  who, 
under  public  employment  of  various  kinds,  draw  money 
from  the  treasury,  or  from  our  citizens.  Time  has  not 
permitted  a  perfect  enumeration,  the  ramifications  of 
office  being  too  multiplied  and  remote  to  be  completely 
traced  in  a  first  trial.  Among  those  who  are  dependent 
on  executive  discretion,  I  have  begun  the  reduction  of 
what  was  deemed  necessary.  The  expenses  of  diplomatic 
agency  have  been  considerably  diminished.  The  inspect- 
ors of  internal  revenue,  who  were  found  to  obstruct  the 
accountability  of  the  institution,  have  been  discontinued. 
Several  agencies,  created  by  executive  authority,  on  sala- 
ries fixed  by  that  also,  have  been  suppressed,  and  should 
suggest  the  expediency  of  regulating  that  power  by  law, 
so  as  to  subject  its  exercises  to  legislative  inspection  and 
sanction.  Other  reformations  of  the  same  kind  will  be 
pursued  with  that  caution  which  is  requisite,  in  removing 
useless  things,  not  to  injure  what  is  retained.  But  the 


JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  So 

great  mass  of  public  offices  is  established  by  law,  and 
therefore  by  law  alone  can  be  abolished.  Should  the  le- 
gislature think  it  expedient  to  pass  this  roll  in  review,  aoid 
try  all  its  parts  by  the  test  of  public  utility,  they  may  be 
assured  of  every  aid  and  light  which  executive  informa*- 
tion  can  yield.  Considering  the  general  tendency  to 
multiply  offices  and  dependencies,  and  to  increase  expense 
to  the  ultimate  term  of  burden  which  the  citizen  can 
bear,  it  behoves  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  every  occasion 
which  presents  itself  for  taking  off  the  surcharge;  that  it 
never  may  be  seen  here  that,  after  leaving  to  labor  the 
smallest  portion  of  its  earnings  on  which  it  can  subsist, 
government  shall  itself  consume  the  whole  residue  of  what 
it  was  instituted  to  guard. 

In  our  care,  too,  of  the  public  contributions  intrusted 
to  our  direction,  it  would  be  prudent  to  multiply  barriers 
against  their  dissipation,  by  appropriating  specific  sums 
to  every  specific  purpose  susceptible  of  definition ;  by 
disallowing  all  applications  of  money  varying  from  the 
appropriation  in  object,  or  transcending  it  in  amount ;  by 
reducing  the  undefined  field  of  contingencies,  and  thereby 
circumscribing  discretionary  powers  over  money ;  and 
by  bringing  back  to  a  single  department  all  accountabili- 
ties for  money,  where  the  examinations  may  be  prompt> 
efficacious,  and  uniform. 

An  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  last 
year,  as  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  will, 
as  usual,  be  laid  before  you.  The  success  which  has  at- 
tended the  late  sales  of  the  public  lands  shows  that,  with 
attention,  they  may  be  made  an  important  source  of  re- 
ceipt. Among  the  payments,  those  made  in  discharge  of 
the  principal  and  interest  of  the  national  debt,  will  show 
that  the  public  faith  has  been  exactly  maintained.  To 
these  will  be  added  an  estimate  of  appropriations  neces- 
sary for  the  ensuing  year.  This  last  will,  of  course,  be 
effected  by  such  modifications  of  the  system  of  expense 
as  you  shall  think  proper  to  adopt. 

A  statement  has  been  formed  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
on  mature  consideration,  of  all  the  posts  and  stations 
where  garrisons  will  be  expedient,  and  of  the  number  of 
men  requisite  for  "each  garrison.  The  whole  amount  i& 


56  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

considerably  short  of  the  present  military  establishment. 
For  the  surplus  no  particular  use  can  be  pointed  out. 
For  defence  against  invasion  their  number  is  as  nothing ; 
nor  is  it  conceived  needful  or  safe  that  a  standing  army 
should  be  kept  up  in  time  of  peace  for  that  purpose. 
Uncertain  as  we  must  ever  be  of  the  particular  point  in 
our  circumference  where  an  enemy  may  choose  to  invade 
us,  the  only  force  which  can  be  ready  at  every  point,  and 
competent  to  oppose  them,  is  the  body  of  neighboring 
citizens  as  formed  into  a  militia.  On  these,  collected 
from  the  parts  most  convenient,  in  numbers  proportioned 
to  the  invading  foe,  it  is  best  to  rely,  not  only  to  meet  the 
first  attack,  but,  if  it  threatens  to  be  permanent,  to  main- 
tain the  defence  until  regulars  may  be  engaged  to  relieve 
them.  These  considerations  render  it  important  that  we 
should,  at  every  session,  continue  to  amend  the  defects 
which  from  time  to  time  show  themselves  in  the  laws  for 
regulating  the  militia,  until  they  are  sufficiently  perfect ; 
nor  should  we  now  or  at  any  time  separate  until  we  can 
say  we  have  done  every  thing  for  the  militia  which  we 
could  do  were  an  enemy  at  our  door. 

The  provision  of  military  stores  on  hand  will  be  laid 
before  you,  that  you  may  judge  of  the  additions  still  re- 
quisite. 

AVith  respect  to  the  extent  to  which  our  naval  prepara- 
tions should  be  carried,  some  difference  of  opinion  may 
be  expected  to  appear  ;  but  just  attention  to  the  circum- 
stances of  every  part  of  the  Union  will  doubtless  recon- 
cile all.  A  small  force  will  probably  continue  to  be  want- 
ed for  actual  service  in  the  Mediterranean.  AVhatever 
annual  sum  beyond  that  you  may  think  proper  to  appro- 
priate for  naval  preparations,  would  perhaps  be  better 
employed  in  providing  those  articles  which  may  be  kept 
without  waste  or  consumption,  and  be  in  readiness  when 
any  exigency  calls  them  into  use.  Progress  has  been 
made,  as  will  appear  by  papers  now  communicated,  in 
providing  materials  for  seventy-four  gun  ships  as  directed 
by  law. 

How  far  the  authority  given  by  the  legislature  for  pro- 
curing and  establishing  sites  for  naval  purposes  has  been 
perfectly  understood  and  pursued  in  the  execution,  admits 


JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  57 

of  some  doubt.  A  statement  of  the  expenses  already  in- 
curred on  that  subject  is  now  laid  before  you.  I  have,  in 
certain  cases,  suspended  or  slackened  these  expenditures, 
that  the  legislature  might  determine  whether  so  many 
yards  are  necessary  as  have  been  contemplated.  The 
works  at  this  place  are  among  those  permitted  to  go  on  ; 
and  five  of  the  seven  frigates  directed  to  be  laid  up,  have 
been  brought  and  laid  up  here,  where,  besides  the  safety 
of  their  position,  they  are  under  the  eye  of  the  executive 
administration,  as  well  as  of  its  agents,  and  where  your- 
selves also  will  be  guided  by  your  own  view  in  the  legis- 
lative provisions  respecting  them  which  may  from  time  to 
time  be  necessary.  They  are  preserved  in  such  condi- 
tion, as  well  the  vessels  as  whatever  belongs  to  them,  as 
to  be  at  all  times  ready  for  sea  on  a  short  warning.  Two 
others  are  yet  to  be  laid  up  so  soon  as  they  shall  have  re- 
ceived the  repairs  requisite  to  put  them  also  into  sound 
condition.  As  a  superintending  officer  will  be  necessary 
at  each  yard,  his  duties  and  emoluments,  hitherto  fixed  by 
the  executive,  will  be  a  more  proper  subject  for  legisla- 
tion. A  communication  will  also  be  made  of  our  pro- 
gress in  the  execution  of  the  law  respecting  the  vessels 
directed  to  be  sold. 

The  fortifications  of  our  harbors,  more  or  less  ad- 
vanced, present  considerations  of  great  difficulty.  While 
some  of  them  are  on  a  scale  sufficiently  proportioned  to 
the  advantages  of  their  position,  to  the  efficacy  of  their 
protection,  and  the  importance  of  the  points  within  it, 
others  are  so  extensive,  will  cost  so  much  in  their  first 
erection,  so  much  in  their  maintenance,  and  require  such 
a  force  to  garrison  them,  as  to  make  it  questionable  what 
is  best  now  to  be  done.  A  statement  of  those  commenced 
or  projected,  of  the  expenses  already  incurred,  and  esti- 
mates of  their  future  cost,  so  far  as  can  be  foreseen,  shall 
be  laid  before  you,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  judge 
whether  any  attention  is  necessary  in  the  laws  respecting 
this  subject. 

Agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  and  navigation, 
the  four  pillars  of  our  prosperity,  are  then  most  thriving 
when  left  most  free  to  individual  enterprise.  Protection 
from  casual  embarrassments,  however,  may  sometimes  be 


58  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

seasonably  interposed.  If,  in  the  course  of  your  observa- 
tions or  inquiries,  they  should  appear  to  need  any  aid 
within  the  limits  of  our  constitutional  powers,  your  sense 
of  their  importance  is  a  sufficient  assurance  they  will  oc- 
cupy your  attention.  We  cannot,  indeed,  but  all  feel  an 
anxious  solicitude  for  the  difficulties  under  which  our  car- 
rying trade  will  soon  be  placed.  How  far  it  can  be  re- 
lieved, otherwise  than  by  time,  is  a  subject  of  important 
consideration. 

The  judiciary  system  of  the  United  States,  and  espe- 
cially that  portion  of  it  recently  erected,  will  of  course 
present  itself  to  the  contemplation  of  Congress  ;  and  that 
they  may  be  able  to  judge  of  the  proportion  which  the 
institution  bears  to  the  business  it  has  to  perform,  I  have 
caused  to  be  procured  from  the  several  states,  and  now 
lay  before  Congress,  an  exact  statement  of  all  the  causes 
decided  since  the  first  establishment  of  the  courts,  and  of 
those  which  were  depending  when  additional  courts  and 
judges  were  brought  in  to  their  aid. 

And  while  on  the  judiciary  organization,  it  will  be 
worthy  your  consideration,  whether  the  protection  of  the 
inestimable  institution  of  juries  has  been  extended  to  all 
the  cases  involving  the  security  of  our  persons  and  pro- 
perty. Their  impartial  selection  also  being  essential  to 
their  value,  we  ought  further  to  consider  whether  that  is 
sufficiently  secured  in  those  states  where  they  are  named 
by  a  marshal  depending  on  executive  will,  or  designated 
by  the  court,  or  by  officers  dependent  on  them. 

I  cannot  omit  recommending  a  revisal  of  the  laws  on 
the  subject  of  naturalization.  Considering  the  ordinary 
chances  of  human  life,  a  denial  of  citizenship  under  a 
residence  of  fourteen  years,  is  a  denial  to  a  great  propor- 
tion of  those  who  ask  it  ;  and  controls  a  policy  pursued, 
from  their  first  settlement,  by  many  of  these  states,  and 
still  believed  of  consequence  to  their  prosperity.  And 
shall  we  refuse  the  unhappy  fugitives  from  distress  that 
hospitality  which  the  savages  of  the  wilderness  extended 
to  our  fathers  arriving  in  this  land?  Shall  oppressed  hu- 
manity find  no  asylum  on  this  globe  ?  The  constitution, 
indeed,  has  wisely  provided  that,  for  admission  to  certain 
offices  of  important  trust,  a  residence  shall  be  required 


JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  50 

sufficient  to  develop  character  and  design.  But  might 
not  the  general  character  and  capabilities  of  a  citizen  be 
safely  communicated  to  every  one  manifesting  a  bona  fide 
purpose  of  embarking  his  life  and  fortunes  permanently 
with  us  1  with  restrictions,  perhaps,  to  guard  against  frau- 
dulent usurpation  of  our  flag ;  an  abuse  which  brings  so 
much  embarrassment  and  loss  on  the  genuine  citizen,  and 
so  much  danger  to  the  nation  of  being  involved  in  war, 
that  no  endeavor  should  be  spared  to  detect  and  suppress 
it. 

These,  fellow-citizens,  are  the  matters  respecting  the 
state  of  the  nation  which  I  have  thought  of  importance 
to  be  submitted  to  your  consideration  at  this  time.  Some 
others  of  less  moment,  or  not  yet  ready  for  communica- 
tion, will  be  the  subject  of  separate  messages.  I  am  hap- 
py in  this  opportunity  of  committing  the  arduous  affairs 
of  our  government  to  the  collected  wisdom  of  the  Union. 
Nothing  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  to  inform,  as  far  as 
in  my  power,  the  legislative  judgment,  nor  to  carry  that 
judgment  into  faithful  execution.  The  prudence  and 
temperance  of  your  discussions  will  promote,  within  your 
own  walls,  that  conciliation  which  so  much  befriends 
rational  conclusion ;  and  by  its  example  will  encourage 
among  our  constituents  that  progress  of  opinion  which  is 
tending  to  unite  them  in  object  and  will.  That  all  should 
be  satisfied  with  any  one  order  of  things  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected ;  but  I  indulge  the  pleasing  persuasion  that  the 
great  body  of  our  citizens  will  cordially  concur  in  honest 
and  disinterested  efforts,  which  have  for  their  object  to 
preserve  the  general  and  state  governments  in  their  con- 
stitutional form  and  equilibrium  ;  to  maintain  peace 
abroad,  and  order  and  obedience  to  the  laws  at  home ;  to 
establish  principles  and  practices  of  administration  favor- 
able to  the  security  of  liberty  and  property,  and  to  reduce 
expenses  to  what  is  necessary  for  the  useful  purposes  of 
government. 


60  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

' 

MADISON'S    INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 

MARCH    4,   1809. 

UnwiUing  to  depart  from  examples  of  the  most  revered 
authority,  I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  now  presented, 
to  express  the  profound  impression  made  on  me  by  the 
call  of  my  country  to  the  station,  to  the  duties  of  which  I 
am  about  to  pledge  myself  by  the  most  solemn  of  sanc- 
tions. So  distinguished  a  mark  of  confidence,  proceed- 
ing from  the  deliberate  and  tranquil  suffrage  of  a  free  and 
virtuous  nation,  would,  under  any  circumstances,  have 
commanded  my  gratitude  and  devotion,  as  well  as  filled 
me  with  an  awful  sense  of  the  trust  to  be  assumed.  Un- 
der the  various  circumstances  which  give  peculiar  solem- 
nity to  the  existing  period,  I  feel  that  both  the  honor  and 
the  responsibility  allotted  to  me  are  inexpressibly  en- 
hanced. 

The  present  situation  of  the  world  is  indeed  without  a 
parallel  ;  and  that  of  our  own  country  full  of  difficulties. 
The  pressure  of  these  too  is  the  more  severely  felt,  be- 
cause they  have  fallen  upon  us  at  a  moment  when  the  na- 
tional prosperity  being  at  a  height  not  before  attained, 
the  contrast  resulting  from  the  change  has  been  rendered 
the  more  striking.  Under  the  benign  influence  of  our 
republican  institutions,  and  the  maintenance  of  peace 
with  all  nations,  whilst  so  many  of  them  were  engaged  in 
bloody  and  wasteful  wars,  the  fruits  of  a  just  policy  were 
enjoyed  in  an  unrivalled  growth  of  our  faculties  and  re- 
sources. Proofs  of  this  were  seen  in  the  improvements 
of  agriculture  ;  in  the  successful  enterprises  of  commerce ; 
in  the  progress  of  manufactures  and  useful  arts ;  in  the 
increase  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the  use  made  of  it  in 
reducing  the  public  debt;  and  in  the  valuable  works  and 
establishments  every  where  multiplying  over  the  face  of 
our  land. 

It  is  a  precious  reflection  that  the  transition  from  this 
prosperous  condition  of  our  country,  to  the  scene  which 
has  for  some  time  been  distressing  us,  is  not  chargeable 
on  any  unwarrantable  views,  nor,  as  I  trust,  on  any  invol- 


MADISON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  61 

untary  errors  in  the  public  councils.  Indulging  no  pas- 
sions which  trespass  on  the  rights  or  repose  of  other  na- 
tions, it  has  been  the  true  glory  of  the  United  States  to 
cultivate  peace  by  observing  justice  ;  and  to  entitle  them- 
selves to  the  respect  of  the  nations  at  war,  by  fulfilling 
their  neutral  obligations  with  the  most  scrupulous  impar- 
tiality. If  there  be  candor  in  the  world,  the  truth  of 
these  assertions  will  not  be  questioned  ;  posterity,  at  least, 
will  do  justice  to  them. 

This  unexceptionable  course  could  not  avail  against  the 
injustice  and  violence  of  the  belligerent  powers^  In  their 
rage  against  each  other,  or  impelled  by  more  direct 
motives,  principles  of  retaliation  have  been  introduced, 
equally  contrary  to  universal  reason  and  acknowledged 
law.  How  long  their  arbitrary  edicts  will  be  continued, 
in  spite  of  the  demonstrations  that  not  even  a  pretext  for 
them  has  been  given  by  the  United  States,  and  of  the  fair 
and  liberal  attempt  to  induce  a  revocation  of  them,  can- 
not be  anticipated.  Assuring  myself  that,  under  every 
vicissitude,  the  determined  spirit  and  united  councils  of 
the  nation  will  be  safeguards  to  its  honor  and  its  essential 
interests,  I  repair  to  the  post  assigned  me  with  no  other 
discouragement  than  what  springs  from  my  own  inade- 
quacy to  its  high  duties.  If  I  do  not  sink  under  the 
weight  of  this  deep  conviction,  it  is  because  I  find  some 
support  in  a  consciousness  of  the  purposes,  and  a  confi- 
dence in  the  principles,  which  I  bring  with  me  into  this 
arduous  service. 

To  cherish  peace  and  friendly  intercourse  with  all  na- 
tions having  correspondent  dispositions ;  to  maintain  sin- 
cere neutrality  towards  belligerent  nations ;  to  prefer  in 
all  cases  amicable  discussion  and  reasonable  accommoda- 
tion of  differences  to  a  decision  of  them  by  an  appeal  to 
arms ;  to  exclude  foreign  intrigues  and  foreign  partiali- 
ties, so  degrading  to  all  countries,  and  so  baneful  to  free 
ones ;  to  foster  a  spirit  of  independence,  too  just  to  in- 
vade the  rights  of  others,  too  proud  to  surrender  our  own, 
too  liberal  to  indulge  unworthy  prejudices  ourselves,  and 
too  elevated  not  to  look  down  upon  them  in  others  ;  to 
hold  the  union  of  the  states  as  the  basis  of  their  peace 
and  happiness ;  to  support  the  constitution,  which  is  the 
6 


(V2  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

cement  of  the  Union,  as  well  in  its  limitations  as  in  its 
authorities  ;  to  respect  the  rights  and  authorities  reserved 
to  the  states  and  to  the  people,  as  equally  incorporated 
with,  and  essential  to  the  success  of,  the  general  system  ; 
to  avoid  the  slightest  interference  with  the  rights  of  con- 
science or  the  functions  of  religion,  so  wisely  exempted 
from  civil  jurisdiction ;  to  preserve,  in  their  full  energy, 
the  other  salutary  provisions  in  behalf  of  private  and  per- 
sonal rights,  and  of  the  freedom  of  the  press  ;  to  observe 
economy  in  public  expenditures ;  to  liberate  the  public 
resources  by  an  honorable  discharge  of  the  public  debts; 
to  keep  within  the  requisite  limits  a  standing  military 
force,  always  remembering  that  an  armed  and  trained 
militia  is  the  firmest  bulwark  of  republics — that  without 
standing  armies  their  liberty  can  never  be  in  danger,  nor 
with  large  ones  safe ;  to  promote,  by  authorized  means, 
improvements  friendly  to  agriculture,  to  manufactures, 
and  to  external  as  well  as  internal  commerce ;  to  favor,  in 
like  manner,  the  advancement  of  science  and  the  diffu- 
sion of  information  as  the  best  aliment  to  true  liberty  ;  to 
carry  on  the  benevolent  plans  which  have  been  so  merito- 
riously applied  to  the  conversion  of  our  aboriginal  neigh- 
bors from  the  degradation  and  wretchedness  of  savage 
life,  to  a  participation  of  the  improvements  of  which  the 
human  mind  and  manners  are  susceptible  in  a  civilized 
state  :  as  far  as  sentiments  and  intentions  such  as  these 
can  aid  the  fulfilment  of  my  duty,  they  will  be  a  resource 
which  cannot  fail  me. 

It  is  my  good  fortune,  moreover,  to  have  the  path  in 
which  I  am  to  tread,  lighted  by  examples  of  illustrious 
services,  successfully  rendered  in  the  most  trying  difficul- 
ties, by  those  who  have  marched  before  me.  Of  those 
of  my  immediate  predecessor  it  might  least  become  me 
here  to  speak.  I  may,  however,  be  pardoned  for  not  sup- 
pressing the  sympathy  with  which  my  heart  is  full,  in  the 
rich  reward  he  enjoys  in  the  benedictions  of  a  beloved 
country,  gratefully  bestowed  for  exalted  talents,  zealously 
devoted,  through  a  long  career,  to  the  advancement  of  its 
highest  interest  and  happiness. 

But  the  source  to  which  I  look  for  the  aids  which  alone 
can  supply  my  deficiencies,  is  in  the  well-tried  intelligence 


MADISON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  63 

and  virtue  of  my  fellow-citizens,  and  in  the  counsels  of 
those  representing  them  in  the  best  other  departments 
associated  in  the  care  of  the  national  interests.  In  these 
my  confidence  will  under  every  difficulty  be  placed,  next 
to  that  in  which  we  have  all  been  encouraged  to  feel  in 
the  guardianship  and  guidance  of  that  Almighty  Being 
whose  power  regulates  the  destiny  of  nations,  whose  bless- 
ings have  been  so  conspicuously  dispensed  to  this  rising 
republic,  and  to  whom  we  are  bound  to  address  our  de- 
vout gratitude  for  the  past,  as  well  as  our  fervent  suppli- 
cations and  best  hopes  for  the  future. 


MADISON'S   FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

NOVEMBER  29,   1809. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

At  the  period  of  our  last  meeting,  I  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  communicating  an  adjustment  with  one  of  the 
principal  belligerent  nations,  jsighly  important  in  itself, 
and  still  more  so,  as  presaging  a  more  extended  accom- 
modation. It  is  with  deep  concern  I  am  now  to  inform 
you,  that  the  favorable  prospect  has  been  overclouded  by 
a  refusal  of  the  British  government  to  abide  by  the  act 
of  its  minister  plenipotentiary,  and  by  its  ensuing  policy 
towards  the  United  States,  as  seen  through  the  communi- 
cations of  the  minister  sent  to  replace  him. 

Whatever  pleas  may  be  urged  for  a  disavowal  of  en- 
gagements formed  by  diplomatic  functionaries,  in  cases 
where,  by  the  terms  of  the  engagements,  a  mutual  ratifi- 
cation is  reserved  ;  or  where  notice  at  the  time  may  have 
been  given  of  a  departure  from  instructions  ;  or  in  extra- 
ordinary cases,  essentially  violating  the  principles  of  equi- 
ty :  a  disavowal  could  not  have  been  apprehended  in  a 
case  where  no  such  notice  or  violation  existed  ;  where 
no  such  ratification  was  reserved ;  and,  more  especially, 


64  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

where,  as  is  now  in  proof,  an  engagement,  to  be  executed 
without  sny  such  ratification,  was  contemplated  by  the 
instructions  given,  and  where  it  had,  with  good  faith,  been 
carried  into  immediate  execution  on  the  part  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

These  considerations  not  having  restrained  the  British 
government  from  disavowing  the  arrangement,  by  virtue 
of  which  ils  orders  in  council  were  to  be  revoked,  and 
the  event  authorizing  the  renewal  of  commercial  inter- 
course having  thus  not  taken  place,  it  necessarily  became 
a  question  of  equal  urgency  and  importance,  whether  the 
act  prohibiting  that  intercourse  was  not  to  be  considered 
as  remaining  in  legal  force.  This  question  being,  after 
due  deliberation,  determined  in  the  affirmative,  a  procla- 
mation to  that  effect  was  issued.  It  could  not  but  hap- 
pen, however,  that  a  return  to  this  state  of  things,  from 
that  which  had  followed  an  execution  of  the  arrangement 
by  the  United  States,  would  involve  difficulties.  With  a 
view  to  diminish  these  as  much  as  possible,  the  instruc- 
tions from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  now  laid  before 
you,  were  transmitted  to  the  collectors  of  the  several 
ports.  If,  in  permitting  British  vessels  to  depart  without 
giving  bonds  not  to  proceed  to  their  own  ports,  it  should 
appear  that  the  tenor  of  legal  authority  has  not  been 
strictly  pursued,  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  anxious  desire 
which  was  felt  that  no  individuals  should  be  injured  by  so 
unforeseen  an  occurrence  :  and  I  rely  on  the  regard  of 
Congress  for  the  equitable  interests  of  our  own  citizens, 
to  adopt  whatever  further  provisions  may  be  found  requi- 
site for  a  general  remission  of  penalties  involuntarily  in- 
curred. 

^The  recall  of  the  disavowed  minister  having  been  fol- 
lowed by  the  appointment  of  a  successor,  hopes  were 
indulged  that  the  new  mission  would  contribute  to  allevi- 
ate tho  disappointment  which  had  been  produced,  and  to 
remove  the  causes  which  had  so  long  embarrassed  the 
good  understanding  of  the  two  nations.  It  could  not  be 
doubted,  that  it  would  at  least  be  charged  with  concilia- 
tory explanations  of  the  steps  which  had  been  taken,  and 
with  proposals  to  be  substituted  for  the  rejected  arrange- 
ment. Reasonable  and  universal  as  this  expectation  was, 


MADISON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  65 

it  also  has  not  been  fulfilled.  From  the  first  official  dis- 
closures of  the  new  minister,  it  was  found  that  he  had  re- 
ceived no  authority  to  enter  into  explanations  relative  to 
either  branch  of  the  arrangement  disavowed,  nor  any  au- 
thority to  substitute  proposals,  as  to  that  branch  which 
concerned  the  British  orders  in  council.  And  finally, 
that  his  proposals  with  respect  to  the  other  branch,  the 
attack  on  the  frigate  Chesapeake,  were  founded  on  a  pre- 
sumption, repeatedly  declared  to  be  inadmissible  by  the 
United  States,  that  the  first  step  towards  adjustment  was 
due  from  them  ;  the  proposals,  at  the  same  time,  omitting 
even  a  reference  to  the  officer  answerable  for  the  murder- 
ous aggression,  and  asserting  a  claim  not  less  contrary  to 
the  British  laws  and  British  practice,  than  to  the  princi- 
ples and  obligations  of  the  United  States. 

The  correspondence  between  the  Department  of  State 
and  this  minister  will  show  how  unessentially  the  features 
presented  in  its  commencement  have  been  varied  in  its 
progress.  It  will  show,  also,  that,  forgetting  the  respect 
due  to  all  governments,  he  did  not  refrain  from  imputa- 
tions on  this,  which  required  that  no  further  communica- 
tions should  be  received  from  him.  The  necessity  of  this 
step  will  be  made  known  to  his  Britannic  majesty,  through 
the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  in  Lon- 
don. And  it  would  indicate  a  want  of  the  confidence 
due  to  a  government  which  so  well  understands  and  ex- 
acts what  becomes  foreign  ministers  near  it,  not  to  infer 
that  the  misconduct  of  its  own  representative  will  be 
viewed  in  the  same  light  in  which  it  has  been  regarded 
here.  The  British  government  will  learn,  at  the  same 
time,  that  a  ready  attention  will  be  given  to  communica- 
tions, through  any  channel  which  may  be  substituted. 
It  will  be  happy,  if  the  change  in  this  respect  should  be 
accompanied  by  a  favorable  revision  of  the  unfriendly 
policy  which  has  been  so  long  pursued  towards  the  United 
States. 

With  France,  the  other  belligerent,  whose  trespasses 
on  our  commercial  rights  have  long  been  the  subject  of 
our  just  remonstrances,  the  posture  of  our  relations  does 
not  correspond  with  the  measures  taken  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  to  effect  a  favorable  change.  The  re* 
6 


66  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Mih  of  the  several  communications  made  to  her  govern- 
ment, in  pursuance  of  the  authorities  vested  by  Congress 
in  the  executive,  is  contained  in  the  correspondence  of 
our  minister  at  Paris  now  laid  before  you. 

By  some  of  the  other  belligerents,  although  professing 
just  and  amicable  dispositions,  injuries  materially  affect- 
ing our  commerce  have  not  been  duly  controlled  or  re- 
pressed. In  these  cases,  the  interpositions  deemed  proper 
on  our  part  have  not  been  omitted.  But  it  well  deserves 
the  consideration  of  the  legislature,  how  far  both  the  safe- 
ty and  honor  of  the  American  flag  may  be  consulted,  by 
adequate  provision  against  that  collusive  prostitution  of 
it  by  individuals,  unworthy  of  the  American  name,  which 
has  so  much  favored  the  real  or  pretended  suspicions,  un- 
der which  the  honest  commerce  of  their  fellow-citizens 
has  suffered. 

In  relation  to  the  powers  on  the  coast  of  Barbary,  noth- 
ing has  occurred  which  is  not  of  a  nature  rather  to  in- 
spire confidence  than  distrust,  as  to  the  continuance  of 
the  existing  amity.  With  our  Indian  neighbors,  the  just 
and  benevolent  system  continued  towards  them,  has  also 
preserved  peace,  and  is  more  and  more  advancing  habits 
favorable  to  their  civilization  and  happiness. 

From  a  statement  which  will  be  made  by  the  Secretary 
of  War,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  fortifications  on  our  mari- 
time frontier  are  in  many  of  the  ports  completed,  affording 
the  defence  which  was  contemplated  ;  and  that  a  further 
time  will  be  required  to  render  complete  the  works  in  the 
harbor  of  New  York,  and  in  some  other  places.  By  the 
«  nlargement  of  the  works,  and  the  employment  of  a  great- 
er number  of  hands  at  the  public  armories,  the  supply  of 
•Mil  arms,  of  an  improving  quality,  appears  to  be  annu- 
ally increasing  at  a  rate  that,  with  those  made  on  private 
contract,  may  be  expected  to  go  far  towards  providing  for 
the  public  exigency. 

The  act  of  Congress  providing  for  the  equipment  of 
our  vessels  of  war  having  been  fully  carried  into  execu- 
tion, I  refer  to  the  statement  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  for  the  information  which  may  be  proper  on  that 
subject.  To  that  statement  is  added  a  view  of  the  trans- 
fers of  appropriations,  authorized  by  the  act  of  the  sea- 


MADISON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  67 

sion  preceding  the  last,  and  of  the  grounds  on  which  the- 
transfers  were  made. 

Whatever  may  be  the  course  of  your  deliberations  on 
the  subject  of  our  military  establishments,  I  should  fait 
in  my  duty  in  not  recommending  to  your  serious  atten- 
tion the  importance  of  giving  to  our  militia,  the  great 
bulwark  of  our  security  and  resource  of  our  power,  an. 
organization  the  best  adapted  to  eventual  situations,  for 
which  the  United  States  ought  to  be  prepared. 

The  sums  which  had  been  previously  accumulated  in 
the  treasury,  together  with  the  receipts  during  the  year 
ending  on  the  30th  of  September  last,  (and  amounting  to 
more  than  nine  millions  of  dollars,)  have  enabled  us  to 
fulfil  all  our  engagements,  and  to  defray  the  current 
expenses  of  government,  without  recurring  to  any  loan. 
But  the  insecurity  of  our  commerce,  and  the  consequent 
diminution  of  the  public  revenue,  will  probably  produce 
a  deficiency  in  the  receipts  of  the  ensuing  year,  for  which, 
and  for  other  details,  I  refer  to  the  statements  which  will 
be  transmitted  from  the  treasury. 

In  the  state  which  has  been  presented  of  our  affairs 
with  the  great  parties  to  a  disastrous  and  protracted  war, 
carried  on  in  a  mode  equally  injurious  and  unjust  to  the 
United  States  as  a  neutral  nation,  the  wisdom  of  the  na- 
tional legislature  will  be  again  summoned  to  the  import- 
ant decision  on  the  alternatives  before  them.  That  these 
will  be  met  in  a  spirit  worthy  the  councils  of  a  nation- 
conscious  both  of  its  rectitude  and  of  its  rights,  and 
careful  as  well  of  its  honor  as  of  its  peace,  I  have  an  en- 
tire confidence.  And  that  the  result  will  be  stamped  by  a 
unanimity  becoming  the  occasion,  and  be  supported  by 
every  portion  of  our  citizens,  with  a  patriotism  enlight 
ened  and  invigorated  by  experience,  ought  as  little  to  be 
doubted. 

In  the  midst  of  the  wrongs  and  vexations  experienced 
from  external  causes,  there  is  much  room  for  congratula- 
tion on  the  prosperity  and  happiness  flowing  from  our  sit- 
uation at  home.  The  blessing  of  health  has  never  been 
more  universal.  The  fruits  of  the  seasons,  though  in 
particular  articles  and  districts  short  of  their  usual  redun- 
dancy, are  more  than  sufficient  for  our  wants  and  our  conv 


68  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

forts.  The  face  of  our  country  every  where  presents  the 
evidence  of  laudable  enterprise,  of  extensive  capital,  and 
of  durable  improvement.  In  the  cultivation  of  the  mate- 
rials, and  the  extension  of  useful  manufactures,  more  espe- 
cially in^the  general  application  to  household  fabrics,  we 
behold  a  rapid  diminution  of  our  dependence  on  foreign 
supplies.  Nor  is  it  unworthy  of  reflection,  that  this  revo- 
lution in  our  pursuits  and  habits  is  in  no  slight  degree  a 
consequence  of  those  impolitic  and  arbitrary  edicts,  by 
which  the  contending  nations,  in  endeavoring  each  of 
them  to  obstruct  our  trade  with  the  other,  have  so  far 
abridged  our  means  of  procuring  the  productions  and 
manufactures,  of  which  our  own  are  now  taking  the  place. 
Recollecting  always,  that,  for  every  advantage  which 
may  contribute  to  distinguish  our  lot  from  that  to  which 
others  are  doomed  by  the  unhappy  spirit  of  the  times,  we 
are  indebted  to  that  Divine  Providence  whose  goodness 
has  been  so  remarkably  extended  to  this  rising  nation,  it 
becomes  us  to  cherish  a  devout  gratitude,  and  to  implore 
from  the  same  Omnipotent  Source  a  blessing  on  the  con- 
sultations and  measures  about  to  be  undertaken  for  the 
welfare  of  our  beloved  country. 


MONROE'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 

MARCH   5,    1817. 

I  SHOULD  be  destitute  of  feeling  if  I  was  not  deeply  af- 
fected by  the  strong  proof  which  my  fellow-citizens  have 
given  me  of  their  confidence,  in  calling  me  to  the  high 
office,  whose  functions  I  am  about  to  assume.  As  the 
expression  of  their  good  opinion  of  my  conduct  in  the 
public  service,  I  derive  from  it  a  gratification,  which  those 
who  are  conscious  of  having  done  all  that  they  could  do 
to  merit  it,  can  alone  feel.  My  sensibility  is  increased  by 
a  just  estimate  of  the  importance  of  the  trust,  and  of  the 
nature  and  extent  of  its  duties  ;  with  the  proper  discharge 
of  which  the  highest  interests  of  a  great  and  free  people 


•„  • 


MONROE'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  69 

are  intimately  connected.  Conscious  of  my  own  deficiency, 
I  cannot  enter  on  these  duties  without  great  anxiety  for  the 
result.  From  a  just  responsibility  I  will  never  shrink  ;  cal- 
culating with  confidence,  that  in  my  best  efforts  to  promote 
the  public  welfare,  my  motives  will  always  be  duly  appre- 
ciated, and  my  conduct  be  viewed  with  that  candor  and 
indulgence  which  I  have  experienced  in  other  stations. 

In  commencing  the  duties  of  the  chief  executive  office, 
it  has  been  the  practice  of  the  distinguished  men  who 
have  gone  before  me,  to  explain  the  principles  which  would 
govern  them  in  their  respective  administrations.  In  fol- 
lowing their  venerated  example,  my  attention  is  naturally 
drawn  to  the  great  causes  which  have  contributed,  in  a  prin- 
cipal degree,  to  produce  the  present  happy  condition  of 
the  United  States.  They  will  best  explain  the  nature  of 
our  duties,  and  shed  much  light  on  the  policy  which  ought 
to  be  pursued  in  future. 

From  the  commencement  of  our  revolution  to  the  pre- 
sent day,  almost  forty  years  have  elapsed,  and  from  the 
establishment  of  this  constitution,  twenty-eight.  Through 
this  whole  term,  the  government  has  been  what  may  em- 
phatically be  called,  self-government :  and  what  has  been 
the  effect '?  To  whatever  object  we  turn  our  attention, 
whether  it  relates  to  our  foreign  or  domestic  concerns,  we 
find  abundant  cause  to  felicitate  ourselves  in  the  excellence 
of  our  institutions.  During  a  period  fraught  with  difficul- 
ties, and  marked  by  very  extraordinary  events,  the  United 
States  have  flourished  beyond  example.  Their  citizens, 
individually,  have  been  happy,  and  the  nation  prosperous. 

Under  this  constitution  our  commerce  has  been  wisely 
regulated  with  foreign  nations,  and  between  the  states ; 
new  states  have  been  admitted  into  our  Union  ;  our  terri- 
tory has  been  enlarged  by  fair  and  honorable  treaty,  and 
with  great  advantage  to  the  original  states ;  the  states  re- 
spectively protected  by  the  national  government,  under  a 
mild  paternal  system,  against  foreign  dangers,  and  enjoy- 
ing within  their  separate  spheres,  by  a  wise  partition  of 
power,  a  just  proportion  of  the  sovereignty,  have  improv- 
ed their  police,  extended  their  settlements,  and  attained  a 
strength  and  maturity  which  are  the  best  proofs  of  whole- 
some laws  well  administered.  And  if  we  look  to  the 


70  THE    TRUE   AMERICAN. 

condition  of  individuals,  what  a  proud  spectacle  does  it 
exhibit?  On  whom  has  oppression  fallen  in  any  quarter 
of  our  Union  ?  Who  has  been  deprived  of  any  right  of 
person  or  property  ?  Who  restrained  from  offering  his 
vows,  in  the  mode  which  he  prefers,  to  the  Divine  Author 
of  his  being?  It  is  well  known  that  all  these  blessings 
have  been  enjoyed  in  their  fullest  extent;  and  I  add,  with 
peculiar  satisfaction,  that  there  has  been  no  example  of  a 
capital  punishment  being  inflicted  on  any  one  for  the  crime 
of  high  treason. 

Some  who  might  admit  the  competency  of  our  govern- 
ment to  these  beneficent  duties,  might  doubt  it  in  trials 
which  put  to  the  test  its  strength  and  efficiency  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  great  community  of  nations.  Here,  too,  ex- 
perience has  afforded  us  the  most  satisfactory  proof  in  its 
favor.  Just  as  this  constitution  was  put  into  action,  sev- 
eral of  the  principal  states  of  Europe  had  become  much 
agitated,  and  some  of  them  seriously  convulsed.  Destruc- 
tive wars  ensued,  which  have  of  late  only  been  termina- 
ted. In  the  course  of  these  conflicts,  the  United  States 
received  great  injury  from  several  of  the  parties.  It  was 
their  interest  to  stand  aloof  from  the  contest,  to  demand 
justice  irom  the  party  committing  the  injury,  and  to  cul- 
tivate by  a  fair  and  honorable  conduct,  the  friendship  of 
all.  War  became  at  length  inevitable,  and  the  result  has 
shown  that  our  government  is  equal  to  that,  the  greatest 
of  trials  under  the  most  unfavorable  circumstances.  Of 
the  virtue  of  the  people,  and  of  the  heroic  exploits  of  the 
army,  the  navy,  and  the  militia,  I  need  not  speak. 

Such,  then,  is  the  happy  government  under  which  we 
live;  a  government  adequate  to  every  purpose  for  which 
the  social  compact  is  formed ;  a  government  elective  in 
all  its  branches,  under  which  every  citizen  may,  by  his 
merit,  obtain  the  highest  trust  recognized  by  the  con- 
stitution ;  which  contains  within  it  no  cause  of  discord  ; 
none  to  put  at  variance  one  portion  of  the  community 
with  another ;  a  government  which  protects  every  citizen 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  rights,  and  is  able  to  protect 
the  nation  against  injustice  from  foreign  powers. 

Other  considerations  of  the  highest  importance  admo- 
nish us  to  cherish  our  union,  and  to  cling  to  the  govern- 


MONROE'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  71 

ment  which  supports  it.  Fortunate  as  we  are  in  our  po- 
litical institutions,  we  have  not  been  less  st>  in  other  cir- 
cumstances on  which  our  prosperity  and  happiness  essen- 
tially depend.  Situated  within  the  temperate  zone,  and 
extending  through  many  degrees  of  latitude  along  the 
Atlantic,  the  United  States  enjoy  all  the  varieties  of  cli- 
mate, and  every  production  incident  to  that  portion  of  the 
globe.  Penetrating,  internally,  to  the  great  lakes  and  be- 
yond the  resources  of  the  great  rivers  which  communicate 
through  our  whole  interior,  no  country  was  ever  happier 
with  respect  to  its  domain.  Blessed  too  with  a  fertile  soil, 
our  produce  has  always  been  very  abundant,  leaving  even 
in  years  the  least  favorable,  a  surplus  for  the  wants  of 
our  fellow-men  in  other  countries.  Such  is  our  peculiar 
felicity,  that  there  is  not  a  part  of  our  Union  that  is  not 
particularly  interested  in  preserving  it.  The  great  agri- 
cultural interest  of  our  nation  prospers  under  its  protec- 
tion. Local  interests  are  not  less  fostered  by  it.  Our 
fellow-citizens  of  the  north,  engaged  in  navigation,  find 
great  encouragement  in  being  made  the  favored  carriers 
of  the  vast  productions  of  the  other  portions  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  while  the  inhabitants  of  these  are  amply  re- 
compensed, in  their  turn,  by  the  nursery  for  seamen  and 
naval  force,  thus  formed  arid  reared  up  for  the  support  of 
our  common  rights.  Our  manufacturers  find  a  generous 
encouragement  by  the  policy  which  patronizes  domestic 
industry  ;  and  the  surplus  of  our  produce,  a  steady  and  pro- 
fitable market  by  local  wants  in  less  favored  parts  at  home. 

Such,  then,  being  the  highly  favored  condition  of  our 
country,  it  is  the  interest  of  every  citizen  to  maintain  it. 
What  are  the  dangers  which  menace  us  1  If  any  exist, 
they  ought  to  be  ascertained  and  guarded  against. 

In  explaining  my  sentiments  on  this  subject,  it  may 
be  asked,  what  raised  us  to  the  present  happy  state? 
How  did  we  accomplish  the  revolution  ?  How  remedy 
the  defects  of  the  first  instrument  of  our  Union,  by 
infusing  into  the  national  government  sufficient  power 
for  national  purposes,  without  impairing  the  just  rights 
of  the  states,  or  affecting  those  of  individuals?  How 
sustain  and  pass  with  glory  through  the  late  war  ?  The 
government  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  To  the 


72  THE    TRfE    AMERICAN. 

people,  therefore,  and  to  the  faithful  and  able  depositaries 
of  their  trust,  is  the  credit  due.  Had  the  people  of  the 
United  States  been  educated  in  different  principles,  had 
they  been  less  intelligent,  less  independent,  or  less  virtu- 
ous, can  it  be  believed  that  we  should  have  maintained  the 
same  steady  and  consistent  career,  or  been  blessed  with  the 
same  success  ?  While  then  the  constituent  body  retains 
ils  present  sound  and  healthful  state,  every  thing  will  be 
safe.  They  will  choose  competent  and  faithful  represen- 
tatives for  every  department.  It  is  only  when  the  people 
become  ignorant  and  corrupt,  when  they  degenerate  into 
a  populace,  that  they  are  incapable  of  exercising  the  sove- 
reignty. Usurpation  is  then  an  easy  attainment,  and  an 
usurper  soon  found.  The  people  themselves  become  the 
willing  instruments  of  their  own  debasement  and  ruin. 
Let  us  then  look  to  the  great  cause,  and  endeavor  to  pre- 
serve it  in  full  force.  Let  us  by  all  wise  and  constitu- 
tional measures,  promote  intelligence  among  the  people, 
as  the  best  means  of  preserving  our  liberties. 

Dangers  from  abroad  are  not  less  deserving  of  atten- 
tion. Experiencing  the  fortune  of  other  nations,  the 
United  Stcites  may  again  be  involved  in  war,  and  it  may 
in  that  event  be  the  object  of  the  adverse  party  to  over- 
set our  government,  to  break  our  union,  and  demolish  us 
as  a  nation.  Our  distance  from  Europe,  and  the  just, 
moderate,  and  pacific  policy  of  our  government  may  form 
some  security  against  these  dangers,  but  they  ought  to  be 
anticipated  and  guarded  against.  Many  of  our  citizens 
are  engaged  in  commerce  and  navigation,  and  all  of  them 
are  in  a  certain  degree  dependent  on  their  prosperous 
state.  Many  are  engaged  in  the  fisheries.  These  inte- 
rests are  exposed  to  invasion  in  the  wars  between  other 
powers,  and  we  should  disregard  the  faithful  admonitions 
of  experience  if  we  did  not  expect  it.  We  must  support 
our  rights,  or  lose  our  character,  and  with  it,  perhaps,  our 
liberties.  A  people  who  fail  to  do  it,  can  scarcely  be 
said  to  hold  a  place  among  independent  nations.  National 
honor  is  national  property  of  the  highest  value.  The 
sentiment  in  the  mind  of  every  citizen,  is  national  strength. 
It  ought  therefore  to  be  cherished. 

To   secure  us  against   these  dangers,  our  coast  and 


MONROE'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  73 

inland  frontiers  should  be  fortified,  our  army  and  navy 
regulated  upon  just  principles  as  to  the  force  of  each,  be 
kept  in  perfect  order,  and  our  militia  be  placed  on  the 
best  practicable  footing.  To  put  our  extensive  coast  in 
such  a  state  of  defence  as  to  secure  our  cities  and  inte- 
rior from  invasion,  will  be  attended  with  expense,  but  the 
work  when  finished  will  be  permanent,  and  it  is  fair  to 
presume  that  a  single  campaign  of  invasion,  by  a  naval 
force,  superior  to  our  own,  aided  by  a  few  thousand  land 
troops,  would  expose  us  to  a  greater  expense,  without 
taking  into  the  estimate  the  loss  of  property  and  distress 
of  our  citizens,  than  would  be  sufficient  for  this  great 
work.  Our  land  and  naval  forces  should  be  moderate, 
but  adequate  to  the  necessary  purposes.  The  former  to 
garrison  and  preserve  our  fortifications,  and  to  meet  the 
first  invasions  of  a  foreign  foe ;  and  while  constituting 
the  elements  of  a  greater  force,  to  preserve  the  science, 
as  well  as  all  the  necessary  implements  of  war,  in  a  state  to 
be  brought  into  activity  in  the  event  of  war.  The  latter, 
retained  within  the  limits  proper  in  state  of  peace,  might 
aid  in  maintaining  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States 
with  dignity,  in  the  wars  of  other  powers,  and  in  saving 
the  property  of  their  citizens  from  spoliation.  In  time 
of  war,  with  the  enlargement  of  which  the  great  naval 
resources  of  the  country  render  it  susceptible,  and  which 
should  be  duly  fostered  in  time  of  peace,  it  would  contri- 
bute essentially,  both  as  an  auxiliary  of  defence  and  as  a 
powerful  engine  of  annoyance,  to  diminish  the  calamities 
of  war,  and  to  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  and  honorable 
termination. 

But  it  ought  always  to  be  held  prominently  in  view, 
that  the  safety  of  these  states,  and  of  every  thing  dear  to 
a  free  people,  must  depend  in  an  eminent  degree  on  the 
militia.  Invasions  may  be  made  too  formidable  to  be  re- 
sisted by  any  land  and  naval  force,  which  it  would  com- 
port, either  with  the  principles  of  our  government,  or  the 
circumstances  of  the  United  States  to  maintain.  In  such 
cases,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  in  .a  manner  to  produce  the  best  effect.  It  is  of 
the  highest  importance,  therefore,  that  they  be  so  orga- 
nized and  trained  as  to  be  prepared  for  any  emergency. 
7 


71  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

The.  arrangement  should  be  such  as  to  put  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  government  the  ardent  patriotism  and  youth- 
ful vigor  of  the  country.  If  formed  on  equal  and  just 
principles,  it  cannot  be  oppressive.  It  is  the  crisis  which 
makes  the  pressure,  and  not  the  laws  which  provide  a 
remedy  for  it.  This  arrangement  should  be  formed,  too, 
in  time  of  peace,  to  be  the  better  prepared  for  war.  With 
such  an  organization  of  such  a  people,  the  United  States 
have  nothing  to  dread  from  foreign  invasion.  At  its 
approach,  an  overwhelming  force  of  gallant  men  might 
always  be  put  in  motion. 

Other  interests  of  high  importance  will  claim  attention  ; 
among  which,  the  improvement  of  our  country  by  roads 
and  canals,  proceeding  always  with  a  constitutional  sanc- 
tion, holds  a  distinguished  place.  By  thus  facilitating 
the  intercourse  between  the  states,  we  shall  add  much  to 
the  convenience  and  comfort  of  our  fellow-citizens,  much 
to  the  ornament  of  the  country,  and  what  is  of  greater 
importance,  we  shall  shorten  distances,  and  by  making 
each  part  more  accessible  to  and  dependent  on  the  other, 
we  shall  bind  the  union  more  closely  together.  Nature 
has  done  so  much  for  us  by  intersecting  the  country  with 
so  many  great  rivers,  bays,  and  lakes,  approaching  from 
distant  points  so  near  to  each  other,  that  the  inducement 
to  complete  the  work  seems  to  be  peculiarly  strong.  A 
more  interesting  spectacle  was  perhaps  never  seen  than  is 
exhibited  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States — a  ter- 
ritory so  vast,  and  advantageously  situated,  containing 
objects  so  grand,  so  useful,  so  happily  connected  in  all 
their  parts. 

Our  manufactures  will,  likewise,  require  the  systematic 
and  fostering  care  of  the  government.  Possessing,  as  we 
do,  all  the  raw  materials,  the  fruit  of  our  own  soil  and 
industry,  we  ought  not- to  depend,  in  the  degree  we  have 
done,  on  supplies  from  other  countries.  While  we  are 
thus  dependent,  the  sudden  event  of  war,  unsought  and 
unexpected,  cannot  fail  to  plunge  us  into  the  most  serious 
difficulties.  It  is  important,  too,  that  the  capital  which 
nourishes  our  manufactures  should  be  domestic,  as  its  in- 
fluence iu  that  case,  instead  of  exhausting,  as  it  may  do 
in  foreign  hands,  would  be  felt  advantageously  on  agri- 


75 

culture,  and  every  other  branch  of  industry.  Equally 
important  is  it  to  provide  at  home  a  market  for  our  raw 
materials,  as  by  extending  the  competition,  it  will  enhance 
the  price,  and  protect  the  cultivator  against  the  casualties 
incident  to  foreign  markets. 

With  the  Indian  tribes  it  is  our  duty  to  cultivate  friendly 
relations,  and  to  act  with  kindness  and  liberality  in  all 
our  transactions.  Equally  proper  is  it  to  persevere  in  our 
efforts  to  extend  to  them  the  advantages  of  civilization. 

The  great  amount  of  our  revenue,  and  the  flourishing 
state  of  the  treasury  are  a  full  proof  of  the  competency 
of  the  national  resources  for  any  emergency,  as  they  are 
of  the  willingness  of  our  fellow-citizens  to  bear  the  burdens 
which  the  public  necessities  require.  The  vast  amount 
of  vacant  lands,  the  value  of  which  daily  augments, 
forms  an  additional  resource  of  great  extent  and  duration. 
These  resources,  besides  accomplishing  every  other  ne- 
cessary purpose,  puts  it  completely  in  the  power  of  the 
United  States  to  discharge  the  national  debt  at  an  early 
period.  Peace  is  the  best  time  for  improvement  and  pre- 
parations of  every  kind  :  it  is  in  peace  that  our  commerce 
flourishes  most,  that  taxes  are  most  easily  paid,  and  that 
the  revenue  is  most  productive. 

The  executive  is  charged,  officially,  in  the  department? 
under  it,  with  the  disbursement  of  the  public  money,  and 
is  responsible  for  the  faithful  application  of  it  to  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  is  raised.  The  legislature  is  the  watch- 
ful guardian  over  the  public  purse.  It  is  its  duty  to  see 
that  the  disbursement  has  been  honestly  made.  To  meet 
the  requisite  responsibility,  every  facility  should  be  afford- 
ed to  the  executive,  to  enable  it  to  bring  the  public  agents 
intruded  with  the  public  money,  strictly  and  promptly  to 
account.  Nothing  should  be  presumed  against  them  : 
but  if,  with  the  requisite  facilities,  the  public  money  is 
suffered  to  lie  long  and  uselessly  in  their  hands,  they  will 
not  be  the  only  defaulters,  nor  will  the  demoralizing  ef- 
fect be  confined  to  them.  It  will  evince  a  relaxation  and 
want  of  tone  in  the  administration,  which  will  be  felt  by 
the  whole  community.  I  shall  do  all  that  I  can  to  secure 
economy  and  fidelity  in  this  important  branch  of  the 
administration,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  legislature  will 


76  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

perform  its  duty  with  equal  z,eal.  A  thorough  examina- 
tion should  be  regularly  made,  and  I  will  promote  it. 

It  is  particularly  gratifying  to  me  to  enter  on  the  dis- 
charge of  these  duties  at  a  time  when  the  United  States 
are  blessed  with  peace.  It  is  a  state  most  consistent  with 
their  prosperity  and  happiness.  It  will  be  my  sincere 
desire  to  preserve  it,  so  far  as  depends  on  the  executive, 
on  just  principles  with  all  nations,  claiming  nothing  un- 
reasonable of  any,  and  rendering  to  each  what  is  its  due. 

Equally  gratifying  is  it  to  witness  the  increased  harmo- 
ny of  opinion  which  pervades  our  Union.  Discord  does 
not  belong  to  our  system.  Union  is  recommended,  as 
well  by  the  free  and  benign  principles  of  our  government, 
extending  its  blessings  to  every  individual,  as  by  the  other 
eminent  advantages  attending  it.  The  American  people 
have  encountered  together  great  dangers,  and  sustained 
severe  trials  with  success.  They  constitute  one  great 
family  with  a  common  interest.  Experience  has  enlight- 
ened us  on  some  questions  of  essential  importance  to  the 
country.  The  progress  has  been  slow,  dictated  by  a  just 
reflection,  aud  a  faithful  regard  to  every  interest  connect- 
ed with  it.  To  promote  this  harmony,  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  our  republican  government,  and  in 
a  manner  to  give  them  the  most  complete  effect,  and  to 
advance,  in  all  other  respects,  the  best  interests  of  ouj 
country,  will  be  the  object  of  my  constant  and  zealous, 
exertions. 

Never  did  a  government  commence  under  auspices  so 
favorable,  nor  ever  .was  success  so  complete.  If  we 
look  to  the  history  of  other  nations,  ancient  or  modern, 
we  find  no  example  of  a  growth  so  rapid,  so  gigantic  ;  of 
a  people  so  prosperous  and  happy.  In  contemplating 
what  we  have  still  to  perform,  the  heart  of  every  citizen 
must  expand  with  joy,  when  he  reflects  how  near  our  go- 
vernment has  approached  to  perfection ;  that  in  respect 
to  it  we  have  no  essential  improvement  to  make  ;  that 
the  great  object  is  to  preserve  it  in  the  essential  principles 
and  features  which  characterize  it,  and  that  that  is  to  be 
done  by  preserving  the  virtue  and  enlightening  the  minds 
of  the  people  ;  and,  as  a  security  against  foreign  dangers, 
to  adopt  such  arrangements  as  are  indispensable  to  the 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  77 

support  of  our  independence,  our  rights  and  liberties.  If 
we  persevere  in  the  career  in  which  we  have  advanced  so 
far,  and  in  the  path  already  traced,  we  cannot  fail,  under 
the  favor  of  a  gracious  Providence,  to  attain  the  high  des- 
tiny which  seems  to  await  us. 

In  the  administration  of  the  illustrious  men  who  have 
preceded  me  in  this  high  station,  with  some  of  whom  I 
have  been  connected  by  the  closest  ties  from  early  life, 
examples  are  presented  which  will  always  be  found  highly 
instructive  and  useful  to  their  successors.  From  these  I 
shall  endeavor  to  derive  all  the  advantages  which  they 
may  afford.  Of  my  immediate  predecessor,  under  whom 
so  important  a  portion  of  this  great  and  successful  expe- 
riment has  been  made,  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  expressing 
my  earnest  wishes  that  he  may  long  enjoy  in  his  retire- 
ment the  affections  of  a  grateful  country,  the  best  reward 
of  exalted  talents  and  the  most  faithful  and  meritorious 
services.  Relying  on  the  aid  to  be  derived  from  the  other 
departments  of  government,  I  enter  on  the  trust  to  which 
I  have  been  called  by  the  suffrages  of  my  fellow-citizens, 
with  my  fervent  prayers  to  the  Almighty  that  he  will  be 
graciously  pleased  to  continue  to  us  that  protection  which 
he  has  already  sa  conspicuously  displayed  in  our  favor. 


DECEMBER   3,    1817. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  tlte  Senate,. 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

At  no  period  of  our  political  existence  had  we  so  much 
cause  to  felicitate  ourselves  at  the  prosperous  and  happy 
condition  of  our  country.  The  abundant  fruits  of  the 
earth  have  filled  it  with  plenty.  An  extensive  and  profit- 
able commerce  has  greatly  augmented  our  revenue.  The 
public  credit  has  attained  an  extraordinary  elevation.  Our 
preparations  for  defence,  in  case  of  future  wars,  from 
which,  by  the  experience  of  all  nations,  we  ought  not  ex- 
pect to  be  exempted,  are  advancing,  under  a  well-digested 
7* 


78  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

system,  with  all  the  despatch  which  so  important  a  work 
will  admit.  Our  free  government,  founded  on  the  inte- 
rests and  affections  of  the  people,  has  gained,  and  is  daily 
gaining  strength.  Local  jealousies  are  rapidly  yielding 
to  more  generous,  enlarged,  and  enlightened  views  of  na- 
tional policy.  For  advantages  so  numerous  and  highly 
important,  it  is  our  duty  to  unite  in  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments to  that  Omnipotent  Being,  from  whom  they  are 
derived,  and  in  unceasing  prayer  that  he  will  endow  us 
with  virtue  and  strength  to  maintain  and  hand  them  down, 
in  their  utmost  purity,  to  our  latest  posterity. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you,  that  an  arrange- 
ment, which  had  heen  commenced  by  my  predecessor,  with 
the  British  government,  for  the  reduction  of  the  naval  force, 
by  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  on  the  lakes,  has 
been  concluded  ;  by  which  it  is  provided,  that  neither 
party  shall  keep  in  service  on  lake  Champlain  more  than 
one  vessel ;  on  lake  Ontario,  more  than  one ;  on  lake 
Erie  and  the  upper  lakes,  more  than  two ;  to  be  armed, 
each  with  one  cannon  only,  and  that  all  the  other  armed 
vessels  of  both  parties,  of  which  an  exact  list  is  inter- 
changed, shall  be  dismantled.  It  is  also  agreed,  that  the 
force  retained  shall  be  restricted  in  its  duty  to  the  inter- 
nal purposes  of  each  party  ;  and  that  the  arrangement 
shall  remain  in  force  until  six  months  shall  have  expired 
after  notice  having  been  given  by  one  of  the  parties  to 
the  other  of  its  desire  that  it  should  terminate.  By  this 
arrangement,  useless  expense  on  both  sides,  arid  what  is 
of  greater  importance,  the  danger  of  collision  between 
armed  vessels  in  those  inland  waters,  which  was  great, 
is  prevented. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  also  to  state,  that  the  commis- 
sioners under  the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  to 
whom  it  was  referred  to  decide  to  which  party  the  several 
islands  in  the  bay  of  Passamaquoddy  belonged,  under  the 
treaty  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
have  agreed  in  a  report,  by  which  all  the  islands  in  the  pos- 
session of  each  party  before  the  late  war  have  been  decreed 
to  it.  The  commissioners  acting  under  the  other  articles 
of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  for  the  settlement  of  the  bounda- 
ries, have  also  been  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  their 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  79 

respective  duties,  but  have  not  yet  completed  them.  The 
difference  which  arose  between  the  two  governments, 
under  the  treaty,  respecting  the  right  of  the  United  States 
to  take  and  cure  fish  on  the  coast  of  the  British  provin- 
ces, north  of  our  limits,  which  had  been  secured  by  the 
treaty  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
is  still  in  negotiation.  The  proposition  made  by  this  go- 
vernment, to  extend  to  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain  the 
principle  of  the  convention  of  London,  by  which  the  com- 
merce between  the  ports  of  the  United  States  and  British 
ports  of  Europe  had  been  placed  on  a  footing  of  equali- 
ty, has  been  declined  by  the  British  government.  This 
subject  having  been  thus  amicably  discussed  between  the 
two  governments,  and  it  appearing  that  the  British  go- 
vernment is  unwilling  to  depart  from  its  present  regula- 
tions, it  remains  for  Congress  to  decide  whether  they  will 
make  any  other  regulations  in  consequence  thereof,  for 
the  protection  and  improvement  of  our  navigation. 

The  negotiation  with  Spain,  for  spoliations  on  our  com- 
merce, and  the  settlement  of  boundaries,  remains  essen- 
tially in  the  state  it  held  in  the  communications  that  were 
made  to  Congress  by  my  predecessor.  It  has  been  evi- 
dently the  policy  of  the  Spanish  government  to  keep  the 
negotiation  suspended,  and  in  this  the  United  States  have 
acquiesced,  from  an  amicable  disposition  towards  Spain, 
and  in  the  expectation  that  her  government  would,  from 
a  sense  of  justice,  finally  accede  to  such  an  arrangement 
as  would  be  equal  between  the  parties.  A  disposition 
has  been  lately  shown  by  the  Spanish  government  to  move 
in  the  negotiation,  which  has  been  met  by  this  govern- 
ment, and  should  the  conciliatory  and  friendly  policy 
which  has  invariably  guided  our  councils,  be  reciproca- 
ted, a  just  and  satisfactory  arrangement  may  be  expected. 
Tt  is  proper,  however,  to  remark  that  no  proposition  has 
yet  been  made  from  which  such  a  result  can  be  presumed. 

It  was  anticipated,  at  an  early  stage,  that  the  contest 
between  Spain  and  the  colonies  would  become  highly  in- 
teresting to  the  United  States.  It  was  natural  that  our 
citizens  should  sympathize  in  events  which  affected  their 
neighbors.  It  seemed  probable,  also,  that  the  prosecution 
of  the  conflict,  along  our  coast,  and  in  contiguous  co.un- 


80  THE   TRUE    AMERICA!*. 

tries,  would  occasionally  interrupt  our  commerce,  and 
otherwise  affect  the  persons  and  property  of  our  citizens. 
These  anticipations  have  been  realized.  Such  injuries 
have  been  received  from  persons  acting  under  the  autho- 
rity of  both  the  parties,  and  for  which  redress  has,  in 
some  instances,  been  withheld.  Through  every  stage  of 
the  conflict,  the  United  States  have  maintained  an  impar- 
tial neutrality,  giving  aid  to  neither  of  the  parties  in  men, 
money,  ships,  or  munitions  of  war.  They  have  regarded 
the  contest  not  in  the  light  of  an  ordinary  insurrection 
or  rebellion,  but  as  a  civil  war  between  parties  nearly 
equal,  having,  as  to  neutral  powers,  equal  rights.  Our 
ports  have  been  open  to  both,  and  every  article  the  fruit 
of  our  soil,  or  of  the  industry  of  our  citizens,  which  ei- 
ther was  permitted  to  take,  has  been  equally  free  to  the 
other.  Should  the  colonies  establish  their  independence,  it 
is  proper  now  to  state  that  this  government  neither  seeks 
nor  would  accept  from  them  any  advantage  in  commerce 
or  otherwise,  which  will  not  be  equally  open  to  all  other 
nations.  The  colonies  will  in  that  event  become  inde- 
pendent states,,  free  from  any  obligation  to,  or  connection 
with  us,  which  it  may  not  then  be  their  interest  to  form 
on  a  basis  of  fair  reciprocity. 

In  the  summer  of  the  present  year,  an  expedition  was 
set  on  foot  against  East  Florida,  by  persons  claiming  to 
act  under  the  authority  of  some  of  the  colonies,  who  took 
possession  of  Amelia  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  St.  Mary's 
river,  near  the  boundary  of  the  state  of  Georgia.  As  the 
province  lies  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  bounded 
by  the  United  States  and  the  ocean  on  every  side,  and 
has  been  a  subject  of  negotiation  with  the  government 
of  Spain,  as  an  indemnity  for  losses  by  spoliation,  or  in 
oxclriniM'  of  territory  of  equal  value,  westward  of  the 
Mi.-si.-^ippi,  a  fact  well  known  to  the  world,  it  excited 
surprise  that  any  countenance  should  be  given  to  this 
measure  by  any  of  the  colonies.  As  it  would  be  difficult 
to  reconcile  it  with  the  friendly  relations  existing  between 
the  United  States  and  the  colonies,  a  doubt  was  enter- 
tained whether  it  had  been  authorized  by  them,  or  any 
of  them.  This  doubt  has  gained  strength,  by  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  unfolded  themselves  in  the  prose- 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  81 

cution  of  the  enterprise,  which  have  marked  it  as  a  mere 
private  unauthorized  adventure.  Projected  and  com- 
menced with  an  incompetent  force,  reliance  seems  to 
have  been  placed  on  what  might  be  drawn,  in  defiance  of 
our  laws,  from  within  our  limits  ;  and  of  late,  as  their 
resources  have  failed,  it  has  assumed  a  more  marked  cha- 
racter of  unfriendliness  to  us,  the  island  being  made  a 
channel  for  the  illicit  introduction  of  slaves  from  Africa 
into  the  United  States,  an  asylum  for  fugitive  slaves  from 
the  neighboring  states,  and  a  port  for  smuggling  of  every 
kind. 

A  similar  establishment  was  made,  at  an  earlier  period, 
by  persons  of  the  same  description  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexi- 
co, at  a  place  called  Galveston,  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States,  as  we  contend,  under  the  cession  of  Louis- 
iana. This  enterprise  has  been  marked  in  a  more  sig- 
nal manner  by  all  the  objectionable  circumstances  which 
characterized  the  other,  and  more  particularly  by  the 
equipment  of  privateers  which  have  annoyed  our  com- 
merce, and  by  smuggling.  These  establishments,  if  ever 
sanctioned  by  any  authority  whatever,  which  is  not  be- 
lieved, have  abused  their  trust  and  forfeited  all  claim  to  con- 
sideration. A  just  regard  for  the  rights  and  interests  of 
the  United  States  required  that  they  should  be  suppressed, 
and  orders  have  accordingly  been  issued  to  that  effect. 
The  imperious  considerations  which  produced  this  mea- 
sure will  be  explained  to  the  parties  whom  it  may  in  any 
degree  concern. 

To  obtain  correct  information  on  every  subject  in  which 
the  United  States  are  interested  ;  to  inspire  just  sentiments 
in  all  persons  in  authority,  on  either  side,  of  our  friendly 
disposition,  so  far  as  it  may  comport  with  an  impartial 
neutrality,  and  to  secure  proper  respect  to  our  commerce 
iu  every  port,  and  from  every  flag,  it  has  been  thought 
proper  to  send  a  ship  of  war,  with  three  distinguished 
citizens  along  the  southern  coast,  with  instructions  to 
touch  at  such  ports  as  they  may  find  most  expedient  for 
these  purposes.  With  the  existing  authorities,  with  those 
in  the  possession  of,  and  exercising  the  sovereignty,  must 
the  communication  be  held  ;  from  them  alone  can  redress 
for  past  injuries,  committed  by  persons  acting  under  them 


82  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

be  obtained  ;  by  them  alone  can  the  commission  of  the 
like  in  future  be  prevented. 

Our  relations  with  the  other  powers  of  Europe  have 
experienced  no  essential  change  since  the  last  session. 
In  our  intercourse  with  each,  due  attention  continues  to 
be  paid  to  the  protection  of  our  commerce,  and  to  every 
other  object  in  which  the  United  States  are  interested. 
A  strong  hope  is  entertained,  that  by  adhering  to  the 
maxims  of  a  just,  candid,  and  friendly  policy,  we  may 
long  preserve  amicable  relations  \vith  all  the  powers  of 
Europe,  on  conditions  advantageous  and  honorable  to  our 
country. 

With  the  Barbary  states  and  the  Indian  tribes,  our  pa- 
cific relations  have  been  preserved. 

In  calling  your  attention  to  the  internal  concerns  of 
our  country,  the  view  which  they  exhibit  is  peculiarly 
gratifying.  The  payments  which  have  been  made  into 
the  treasury  show  the  very  productive  state  of  the  public 
revenue.  After  satisfying  the  appropriations  made  by  law 
for  the  support  of  the  civil  government  and  of  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  establishments,  embracing  suitable  provi- 
sion for  fortificat'^"  and  for  the  Tadual  increase  of 

O 

the  navy,  paying  the  interest  of  the  public  debt,  and  ex- 
tinguishing more  than  eighteen  millions  of  the  principal, 
within  the  present  year,  it  is  estimated  that  a  balance  of 
more  than  six  millions  of  dollars  will  remain  in  the  trea- 
sury on  the  first  day  of  January,  applicable  to  the  current 
service  of  the  ensuing  year. 

The  payments  into  the  treasury  during  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen,  on  account  of  im- 
ports and  tonnage,  resulting  principally  from  duties  which 
have  accrued  in  the  present  year,  may  be  fairly  estimated 
at  twenty  millions  of  dollars ;  internal  revenues,  at  two 
millions  five  hundred  thousand  ;  public  lands,  at  one  mil- 
lion five  hundred  thousand  ;  bank  dividends  and  inciden- 
tal receipts,  at  five  hundred  thousand  ;  making,  in  the 
whole,  twenty-four  millions  and  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

The  annual  permanent  expenditure  for  the  support  of 
the  civil  government,  and  of  the  army  and  navy,  as  now 
established  by  law,  amounts  to  eleven  millions  eight  hun- 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  83 

dred  thousand  dollars  ;  and  for  the  sinking  fund,  to  ten 
millions  ;  making,  in  the  whole,  twenty-one  millions  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  leaving  an  annual  excess  of 
revenue,  beyond  the  expenditure,  of  two  millions  seven 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  exclusive  of  the  balance  esti- 
mated to  be  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  day  of  January, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  treasury,  the  whole  of  the 
Louisiana  debt  may  be  redeemed  in  the  year  1819;  after 
which,  if  the  public  debt  continues  as  it  now  is,  above 
par,  there  will  be  annually  about  five  millions  of  the  sink- 
ing fund  unexpended,  until  the  year  1825,  when  the  loan 
of  1812,  and  the  stock  created  by  funding  treasury  notes, 
will  be  redeemable. 

It  is  also  estimated  that  the  Mississippi  stock  will  be 
discharged  during  the  year  1819,  from  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands  assigned  to  that  object;  after  which  the 
receipts  from  those  lands  will  annually  add  to  the  public 
revenue  the  sum  of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  making  the  permanent  annual  revenue  amount  to 
twenty-six  millions  of  dollars,  and  leaving  an  annual  ex- 
cess of  revenue  after  the  year  1819,  beyond  the  perma- 
nent authorized  expenditure,  of  more  than  four  millions 
of  dollars. 

By  the  last  returns  to  the  department  of  war,  the  mili- 
tia force  of  the  several  states  may  be  estimated  at  eight 
hundred  thousand  men,  infantry,  artillery,  and  cavalry. 
Great  part  of  this  force  is  armed,  and  measures  are  taken 
to  arm  the  whole.  An  improvement  in  the  organization 
and  discipline  of  the  militia,  is  one  of  the  great  objects 
which  claim  the  unremitted  attention  of  Congress. 

The  regular  force  amounts  nearly  to  the  number 
required  by  law,  and  is  stationed  along  the  Atlantic  and 
inland  frontiers. 

Of  the  naval  force,  it  has  been  necessary  to  maintain 
strong  squadrons  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

From  several  of  the  Indian  tribes,  inhabiting  the  coun- 
try bordering  on  Lake  Erie,  purchases  have  been  made 
of  lands,  on  conditions  very  favorable  to  the  United  States, 
and,  it  is  presumed,  not  less  so  to  the  tribes  themselves. 


84  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

By  these  purchases  the  Indian  title,  with  moderate  re- 
servations, has  been  extinguished  to  the  whole  of  the  land 
within  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  to  a  groat  part  of  that  in 
Michigan  territory,  and  of  the  state  of  Indiana.  From  the 
Cherokee  tribe  a  tract  has  been  purchased  in  the  state  of 
Georgia,  and  an  arrangement  made,  by  which,  in  exchange 
for  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi,  a  great  part,  if  not  the 
whole  of  the  land  belonging  to  the  tribe,  eastward  of  that 
river,  in  the  states  of  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Ten- 
nessee, and  in  the  Alabama  territory,  will  soon  be  ac- 
quired. By  these  acquisitions,  and  others  that  may  rea- 
sonably be  expected  soon  to  follow,  we  shall  be  enabled 
to  extend  our  settlements  from  the  inhabited  parts  of  the 
state  of  Ohio,  along  Lake  Erie,  into  the  Michigan  terri- 
tory, and  to  connect  our  settlements  by  degrees,  through 
the  state  of  Indiana  and  the  Illinois  territory,  to  that  of 
Missouri.  A  similar  and  equally  advantageous  effect  will 
soon  be  produced  to  the  south,  through  the  whole  extent 
of  the  states  and  territory  which  border  on  the  waters 
emptying  into  the  Mississippi  and  the  Mobile.  In  this 
progress,  which  the  rights  of  nature  demand,  and  nothing 
can  prevent,  marking  a  growth  rapid  and  gigantic,  it  is 
our  duty  to  make  new  efforts  for  the  preservation,  im- 
provement, and  civilization  of  the  native  inhabitants. 
The  hunter  state  can  exist  only  in  the  vast  uncultivated 
desert.  It  yields  to  the  more  dense  and  compact  form 
and  greater  force  of  civilized  population ;  and  of  right  it 
ought  to  yield,  for  the  earth  was  given  to  mankind  to  sup- 
port the  greatest  number  of  which  it  is  capable,  and  no 
tribe  or  people  have  a  right  to  withhold  from  the  wants 
of  others  more  than  is  necessary  for  their  own  support 
and  comfort.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  reserva- 
tion of  land  made  by  the  treaties  with  the  tribes  on  Lake 
Erie,  were  made  with  a  view  to  individual  ownership 
among  them,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  by  all,  and 
that  an  annual  stipend  has  been  pledged  to  supply  their 
other  wants.  It  will  merit  the  consideration  of  Congress, 
whether  other  provisions,  not  stipulated  by  the  treaty, 
ought  to  be  made  for  these  tribes,  and  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  liberal  and  humane  policy  of  the  United 
States  towards  all  the  tribes  within  our  limits,  and  more 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  85 

particularly  for  their  improvement  in  the  arts  of  civilized 
life. 

Among  the  advantages  incident  to  these  purchases,  and 
to  those  which  have  preceded,  the  security  which  may 
thereby  be  afforded  to  our  inland  frontier  is  peculiarly 
important.  With  a  strong  barrier,  consisting  of  our  own 
people  thus  planted  on  the  lakes,  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Mobile,  with  the  protection  to  be  derived  from  the  regu- 
lar force,  Indian  hostilities,  if  they  do  not  altogether 
cease,  will  henceforth  lose  their  terror.  Fortifications  in 
those  quarters  to  any  extent  will  not  be  necessary,  and  the 
expense  attending  them  may  be  saved.  A  people  accus- 
tomed to  the  use  of  fire-arms  only,  as  the  Indian  tribes 
are,  will  shun  even  moderate  works  which  are  defended 
by  cannon.  Great  fortifications  will  therefore  be  requi- 
site only  in  future  along  the  coast,  and  at  some  points  in 
the  interior  connected  with  it.  On  these  will  the  safety 
of  towns  and  the  commerce  of  our  rivers,  from  the  bay 
of  Fundy  to  the  Mississippi,  depend.  On  these,  there- 
fore, should  the  utmost  attention,  skill  and  labor  be  be- 
stowed. 

A  considerable  and  rapid  augmentation  in  the  value 
of  all  the  public  lands,  proceeding  from  these  and  other 
obvious  causes,  may  henceforward  be  expected.  The  dif- 
ficulties attending  early  emigrations  will  be  dissipated  even 
in  the  most  remote  parts.  Several  new  states  have  been 
admitted  into  our  Union  to  the  west  and  south,  and  terri- 
torial governments,  happily  organized,  established  over 
every  other  portion  in  which  there  is  vacant  land  for  sale. 
In  terminating  Indian  hostilities,  as  must  soon  be  done, 
in  a  formidable  shape  at  least,  the  emigration,  which  has 
heretofore  been  great,  will  probably  increase,  and  the  de- 
mand for  land,  and  the  augmentation  in  its  value,  be  in 
like  proportion.  The  great  increase  of  our  population 
throughout  the  Union  will  alone  produce  an  important 
effect,  and  in  no  quarter  will  it  be  so  sensibly  felt  as  in 
those  in  contemplation.  The  public  lands  are  a  public 
stock,  which  ought  to  be  disposed  of  to  the  best  advan- 
tage for  the  nation.  The  nation  should,  therefore,  derive 
the  profit  proceeding  from  the  continual  rise  in  their  val- 
ue. Every  encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  em«- 
8 


86  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

grants,  consistent  with  a  fair  competition  between  them ; 
but  that  competition  should  operate  in  the  first  sale  to  the 
advantage  of  the  nation  rather  than  of  individuals.  Great 
capitalists  will  derive  all  the  benefit  incident  to  their  su- 
perior wealth,  under  any  mode  of  sale  which  may  be 
adopted.  But  if,  looking  forward  to  the  rise  in  the  value 
of  the  public  lands,  they  should  have  the  opportunity  of 
amassing,  at  a  low  price,  vast  bodies  in  their  hands,  the 
profit  will  accrue  to  them,  and  not  to  the  public.  They 
would  also  have  the  power,  in  that  degree,  to  control  the 
(migration  and  settlement  in  such  a  manner  as  their  opin- 
ion of  their  respective  interests  might  dictate.  "  I  submit 
tin-  subject  to  the  consideration  of  Congress,  that  such 
further  provision  may  be  made  of  the  sale  of  the  public 
lands,  with  a  view  to  the  public  interest,  should  any  be 
deemed  expedient,  as  in  their  judgment  may  be  best  adapt- 
ed to  the  object. 

When  we  consider  the  vast  extent  of  territory  within 
the  United  States,  the  great  amount  and  value  of  its  pro- 
ductions, the  connection  of  its  parts,  and  other  circum- 
struicrs  on  which  their  prosperity  and  happiness  depend, 
we  cannot  fail  to  entertain  a  high  sense  of  the  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  the  facility  which  may  be  afforded  in 
the  intercourse  between  them,  by  means  of  good  roads 
and  canals.  Never  did  a  country  of  such  vast  extent 
offer  equal  inducements  to  improvements  of  this  kind,  nor 
ever  were  consequences  of  such  magnitude  involved  in 
them.  As  this  subject  was  acted  on  by  Congress  at  the 
last  session,  and  there  may  be  a  disposition  to  revive  it  at 
present,  I  have  brought  it  into  view  for  the  purpose  of 
communicating  my  sentiments  on  a  very  important  cir- 
cumstance connected  with  it,  with  that  freedom  and  can- 
dor which  a  regard  for  the  public  interest  and  a  proper 
respect  for  Congress  require.  A  difference  of  opinion 
has  existed  from  the  first  formation  of  our  constitution  to 
the  present  time,  among  our  most  enlightened  and  virtu- 
ous citizens,  respecting  the  right  of  Congress  to  establish 
such  a  system  of  improvement.  Taking  into  view  the 
trust  with  which  lam  now  honored,  it  would  be  improper, 
nfter  what  has  passed,  that  this  discussion  should  be  re- 
vived with  an  uncertainty  of  my  opinion  respecting  the 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  87 

right.  Disregarding  early  impressions,  I  have  bestowed 
on  the  subject  all  the  deliberation  which  its  great  impor- 
tance, and  a  just  sense  of  my  duty,  required,  and  the  re- 
sult is  a  settled  conviction  in  my  mind  that  Congress  do 
not  possess  the  right.  It  is  not  contained  in  any  of  the 
specified  powers  granted  to  Congress,  nor  can  I  consider 
it  incidental  to,  or  a  necessary  mean,  viewed  on  the  most 
liberal  scale,  for  carrying  into  effect  any  of  the  powers 
which  are  specifically  granted.  In  communicating  this 
result,  I  cannot  resist  the  obligation  which  I  feel,  to  sug- 
gest to  Congress  the  propriety  of  recommending  to  the 
states  an  adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the  constitution, 
which  shall  give  to  Congress  the  right  in  question.  In 
cases  of  doubtful  construction,  especially  of  such  vital 
interest,  it  comports  with  the  nature  and  origin  of  our  re- 
publican institutions,  and  will  contribute  much  to  pre- 
serve them,  to  apply  to  our  constituents  for  an  explicit 
grant  of  the  power.  We  may  confidently  rely,  that  if  it 
appears  to  their  satisfaction  that  the  power  is  necessary, 
it  will  be  granted. 

In  this  case,  I  am  happy  to  observe,  that  experience 
has  afforded  the  most  ample  proof  of  its'  utility,  and  that 
the  benign  spirit  of  conciliation  and  harmony,  which  now 
manifests  itself  throughout  our  Union,  promises  to  such 
a  recommendation  the  most  prompt  and  favorable  result. 
I  think  proper  to  suggest,  also,  in  case  this  measure  is 
adopted,  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  states  to  include 
in  the  amendment  sought,  a  right  in  Congress  to  insti- 
tute, likewise,  seminaries  of  learning,  for  the  all-impor- 
tant purpose  of  diffusing  knowledge  among  our  fellow- 
citizens  throughout  the  United  States. 

Our  manufactures  will  require  the  continued  atten- 
tion of  Congress.  The  capital  employed  in  them  is  con- 
siderable, and  the  knowledge  required  in  the  machinery 
and  fabric  of  all  the  most  useful  manufactures  is  of  great 
value.  Their  preservation,  which  depends  on  due  en- 
couragement, is  connected  with  the  high  interests  of  the 
nation. 

Although  the  progress  of  the  public  buildings  has  been 
as  favorable  as  circumstances  have  permitted,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  the  capitol  is  not  yet  in  a  state  to  receive  you. 


88  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

There  is  good  cause  to  presume  that  the  two  wings,  the 
only  parts  as  yet  commenced,  will  be  prepared  for  that 
purpose  the  next  session.  The  time  seems  now  to  have 
arrived,  when  this  subject  may  be  deemed  worthy  of  the 
attention  of  Congress,  on  a  scale  adequate  to  national 
purposes.  The  completion  of  the  middle  building  will 
be  necessary  to  the  convenient  accommodation  of  Con- 
gress, of  the  committees,  and  various  officers  belonging 
to  it.  It  is  evident  that  the  other  public  buildings  are 
altogether  insufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  seve- 
ral executive  departments  ;  some  of  whom  are  much 
crowded,  and  even  subject  to  the  necessity  of  obtaining 
it  in  private  buildings,  at  some  distance  from  the  head  of 
the  department,  and  with  inconvenience  to  the  manage- 
ment of  the  public  business.  Most  nations  have  taken 
an  interest  and  a  pride  in  the  improvement  and  ornament 
of  their  metropolis,  and  none  were  more  conspicuous 
in  that  respect  than  the  ancient  republics.  The  policy 
which  dictated  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  resi- 
dence for  the  national  government,  and  the  spirit  in  which 
it  was  commenced  and  has  been  prosecuted,  show  that 
such  improvement  was  thought  worthy  the  attention  of 
this  nation.  Its  central  position,  between  the  northern 
and  southern  extremes  of  our  Union,  and  its  approach  to 
the  west,  at  the  head  of  a  great  navigable  river,  which 
interlocks  with  the  western  waters,  prove  the  wisdom  of 
the  councils  which  established  it.  > 

Nothing  appears  to  be  more  reasonable  and  proper, 
than  that  convenient  accommodation  should  be  provided, 
on  a  well-digested  plan,  for  the  heads  of  the  several  de- 
partments, and  for  the  attorney-general  ;  and  it  is  believed 
that  the  public  ground  in  the  city,  applied  to  these 
objects,  will  be  found  amply  sufficient.  I  submit  this 
subject  to  the  consideration  of  Congress,  that  such  pro- 
vision may  be  made  in  it,  as  to  them  may  seem  proper. 

In  contemplating  the  happy  situation  of  the  United 
States,  our  attention  is  drawn,  with  peculiar  interest,  to 
the  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  our  revolutionary 
army,  who  so  eminently  contributed,  by  their  services,  to 
lay  its  foundation.  Most  of  those  very  meritorious  citi- 
zens have  paid  the  debt  of  nature  and  gone  to  repose.  It 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  89 

is  believed,  that  among  the  survivors  there  are  some  not 
provided  for  by  existing  laws,  who  are  reduced  to  indi- 
gence, and  even  to  real  distress.  These  men  have  a 
claim  on  the  gratitude  of  their  country,  and  it  will  do 
honor  to  their  country  to  provide  for  them.  The  lapse 
of  a  few  years  more,  and  the  opportunity  will  be  forever 
lost;  indeed,  so  long  already  has  been  the  interval,  that 
the  number  to  be  benefitted  by  any  provision  which  may 
be  made,  will  not  be  great. 

It  appearing  in  a  satisfactory  manner  that  the  revenue 
arising  from  imposts  and  tonnage,  and  from  the  sale  of 
public  lands,  will  be  fully  adequate  to  the  support  of  the 
civil  government,  of  the  present  military  and  naval  esta- 
blishments, including  the  annual  augmentation  of  the  lat- 
ter to  the  extent  provided  for,  to  the  payment  of  the  in- 
terest on  the  public  debt,  and  to  the  extinguishment  of  it 
at  the  times  authorized,  without  the  aid  of  the  internal 
taxes,  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  recommend  to  Congress 
their  repeal.  To  impose  taxes  when  the  public  exigen- 
cies require  them,  is  an  obligation  of  the  most  sacred 
character,  especially  with  a  free  people.  The  faithful  fulfil- 
ment of  it  is  among  the  highest  proofs  of  their  virtue  and  ca- 
pacity for  self-government.  To  dispense  with  taxes,  when 
it  may  be  done  with  perfect  safety,  is  equally  the  duty  of 
their  representatives.  In  this  instance,  we  have  the  satis- 
faction to  know  that  they  were  imposed  when  the  demand 
was  imperious,  and  have  been  sustained  with  exemplary 
fidelity.  I  have  to  add,  that  however  gratifying  it  may  be 
to  me,  regarding  the  prosperous  and  happy  condition  of 
our  country,  to  recommend  the  repeal  of  these  taxes  at 
this  time,  I  shall,  nevertheless,  be  attentive  to  events,  and 
should  any  future  emergency  occur,  be  not  less  prompt 
to  suggest  such  measures  and  burdens  as  may  then  be 
requisite  and  proper. 
'  8* 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


J.  Q.  ADAMS'S    INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 
WARCH  4,  1825. 

IN  compliance  with  a  usage  coeval  with  the  existence 
of  our  federal  constitution,  and  sanctioned  by  the  exam- 
ple of  my  predecessors  in  the  career  upon  which  I  am 
about  to  enter,  I  appear,  my  fellow-citizens,  in  your  pre- 
sence, and  in  that  of  Heaven,  to  bind  myself,  by  the  so- 
lemnities of  a  religious  obligation,  to  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  allotted  to  me,  in  the  station  to  which 
1  have  been  called. 

In  unfolding  to  my  countrymen  the  principles  by  which 
I  >hall  be  governed  in  the  fulfilment  of  those  duties, 
my  first  resort  will  be  to  that  constitution,  which  I  shall 
swear,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  to  preserve,  protect, 
and  defend.  That  revered  instrument  enumerates  the 
ponrrs  and  prescribes  the  duties  of  the  executive  magis- 
trate; and,  in  its  first  words,  declares  the  purposes  to 
which  these,  and  the  whole  action  of  the  government,  in- 
stituted by  it,  should  be  invariably  and  sacredly  devoted — 
to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure 
domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence, 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty  to  the  people  of  this  Union,  in  their  successive 
generations.  Since  the  adoption  of  this  social  compact, 
one  of  these  generations  has  passed  away.  It  is  the  work 
of  our  forefathers.  Administered  by  some  of  the  most 
eminent  men  who  contributed  to  its  formation,  through  a 
most  eventful  period  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  and 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  peace  and  war,  incidental 
to  the  condition  of  associated  man,  it  has  not  disappointed 
the  hopes  and  aspirations  of  those  illustrious  benefactors 
of  their  age  and  nation.  It  has  promoted  the  lasting 
welfare  of  that  country,  so  dear  to  us  all  j  it  has,  to  an 
extent  far  beyond  the  ordinary  lot  of  humanity,  secured 
the  freedom  and  happiness  of  this  people.  We  now  re- 
ceive it  as  a  precious  inheritance  from  those  to  whom  we 
are  indebted  for  its  establishment,  doubly  bound  by  the 
examples  they  have  left  us,  and  by  the  blessings  which 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  91 

we  have  enjoyed,  as  the  fruits  of  their  labors,  to  transmit 
the  same,  unimpaired,  to  the  succeeding  generations. 

In  the  compass  of  thirty-six  years,  since  this  great  na- 
tional covenant  was  instituted,  a  body  of  laws  enacted 
under  its  authority,  and  in  conformity  with  its  provisions, 
has  unfolded  its  powers,  and  carried  into  practical  opera- 
tion its  effective  energies.  Subordinate  departments  have 
distributed  the  executive  functions  in  their  various  rela- 
tions to  foreign  affairs,  to  the  revenue  and  expenditures, 
and  to  the  military  force  of  the  Union  by  land  and  sea. 
A  co-ordinate  department  of  the  judiciary  has  expound- 
ed the  constitution  and  the  laws ;  settling,  in  harmonious 
coincidence  with  the  legislative  will,  numerous  weighty 
questions  of  construction  which  the  imperfection  of  hu- 
man language  had  rendered  unavoidable.  The  year  of 
jubilee  since  the  first  formation  of  our  Union  has  just 
elapsed ;  that  of  the  declaration  of  independence  is  at 
hand.  The  consummation  of  both  was  effected  by  this 
constitution.  Since  that  period,  a  population  of  four 
millions  has  multiplied  to  twelve.  A  territory,  bounded  by 
the  Mississippi,  has  been  extended  from  sea  to  sea.  New 
states  have  been  admitted  to  the  Union,  in  numbers  nearly 
equal  to  those  of  the  first  confederation.  Treaties  of 
peace,  amity,  and  commerce,  have  been  concluded  with 
the  principal  dominions  of  the  earth.  The  people  of 
other  nations,  inhabitants  of  regions  acquired,  not  by 
conquest  but  by  compact,  have  been  united  with  us  in  the 
participation  of  our  rights  and  duties,  of  our  burdens 
and  blessings.  The  forest  has  fallen  by  the  axe  of  our 
woodsman  ;  the  soil  has  been  made  to  teem  by  the  tillage 
of  our  farmers;  our  commerce  has  whitened^ery  ocean. 
The  dominion  of  man  over  physical  nature  has  been  ex- 
tended by  the  invention  of  our  artists.  Liberty  and  law 
have  marched  hand  in  hand.  All  the  purposes  of  human 
association  have  been  accomplished  as  effectively  as 
under  any  other  government  on  the  globe ;  and  at  a  cost, 
little  exceeding,  i-n  a  whole  generation,  the  expenditures 
of  other  nations  in  a  single  year. 

Such  is  the  unexaggerated  picture  of  our  condition 
under  a  constitution,  founded  upon  the  republican  princi- 
ple of  equal  rights.  To  admit  that  this  picture  has  its- 


02  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

shades,  is  but  to  say  that  it  is  still  the  condition  of  men 
upon  earth.  From  evil,  physical,  moral  and  political,  it 
is  not  our  claim  to  be  exempt.  We  have  suffered  some- 
times by  the  visitation  of  Heaven,  through  disease;  often 
by  the  wrongs  and  injustices  of  other  nations,  even  to  the 
extremities  of  war ;  and  lastly,  by  dissentions  among  our- 
selves— dissentions,  perhaps,  inseparable  from  the  enjoy- 
ment of  freedom,  but  which  have  more  than  once  appeared 
to  threaten  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and,  with  it,  the 
overthrow  of  all  the  enjoyments  of  our  present  lot,  and 
all  our  earthly  hopes  of  the  future.  The  causes  of  these 
dissentions  have  been  various,  founded  upon  differences 
of  speculation  in  the  theory  of  republican  government ; 
upon  conflicting  views  of  policy,  in  our  relations  with 
foreign  nations ;  upon  jealousies  of  partial  and  sectional 
interests,  aggravated  by  prejudices  and  prepossessions, 
which  strangers  to  each  other  are  ever  apt  to  entertain. 

It  is  a  source  of  gratification  and  of  encouragement  to 
me,  to  observe  that  the  great  result  of  this  experiment 
upon  the  theory  of  human  rights  has,  at  the  close  of  that 
generation  by  which  it  was  formed,  been  crowned  with 
success  equal  to  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its 
founders.  Union,  justice,  tranquillity,  the  common  de- 
fence, the  general  welfare,  and  the  blessings  of  liberty,  all 
have  been  promoted  by  the  government  under  which  we 
have  lived.  Standing  at  this  point  of  time  ;  looking  back 
to  that  generation  which  has  gone  by,  and  forward  to  that 
which  is  advancing,  we  may  at  once  indulge  in  grateful 
exultation  and  in  cheering  hope.  From  the  experience  of 
the  past,  we  derive  instructive  lessons  for  the  future.  Of 
the  two  gittat  political  parties  which  have  divided  the 
opinions  arra  feelings  of  our  country,  the  candid  and  the 
just  will  now  admit  that  both  have  contributed  splendid 
talents,  spotless  integrity,  ardent  patriotism  and  disinter- 
ested sacrifices,  to  the  formation  and  administration  of  this 
government ;  and  that  both  have  required  a  liberal  indul- 
gence for  a  portion  of  human  infirmity  and  error.  The 
revolutionary  wars  of  Europe,  commencing  precisely  at 
the  moment  when  the  government  of  the  United  States 
first  went  into  operation  under  this  constitution,  excited 
a  collision  of  sentiments  and  of  sympathies,  which  kin,- 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  93 

died  all  the  passions,  and  embittered  the  conflict  of  par- 
ties, till  the  nation  was  involved  in  war,  and  the  Union 
was  shaken  to  its  centre.  This  time  of  trial  embraced  a 
period  of  five-and-twenty  years,  during  which  the  policy 
of  the  Union,  in  its  relations  with  Europe,  constituted 
the  principal  basis  of  our  political  divisions,  and  the  most 
arduous  part  of  the  action  of  our  federal  government. 
With  the  catastrophe  in  which  the  wars  of  the  French 
revolution  terminated,  and  our  own  subsequent  peace 
with  Great  Britain,  this  baneful  weed  of  party  strife  was 
uprooted.  From  that  time,  no  difference  of  principle, 
connected  either  with  the  theory  of  government,  or  with 
our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  has  existed,  or  been 
called  forth  in  force  sufficient  to  sustain  a  continued  com- 
binatiorlQf  parties,  or  give  more  than  wholesome  anima- 
tion to  public  sentiment  or  legislative  debate.  Our  po- 
litical cieed  is,  without  a  dissenting  voice  that  can  be 
heard,  that  the  will  of  the  people  is  the  source,  and  the 
happiness  of  the  people  the  end,  of  all  legitimate  govern- 
ment upon  earth.  That  the  best  security  for  the  benefi- 
cence, and  the  best  guaranty  against  the  abuse  of  power, 
consists  in  the  freedom,  the  purity,  and  the  frequency  of 
popular  elections.  That  the  general  government  of  the 

TT         ' ^     |        ^.1,  ^      ~,..~  „„„  + ,v      r*^.  ~  ~».,",  — ^  ~~  A~        ^  f      +  1-.  r*         c-*^*~~ 

(j'niOn,    aim    tuc  ccpai  aiC   <iu~vciuiiicui.->    ui    mv,    ontt-ca,     art; 

all  sovereignties  of  legitimated  powers ;  fellow-servants 
of  the  same  masters,  uncontrolled  within  their  respective 
spheres,  uncontrollable  by  encroachments  upon  each 
other.  That  the  firmest  security  of  peace  is  the  pre- 
paration during  peace  of  the  defences  of  war.  That  a 
rigorous  economy,  and  accountability  of  public  expendi- 
tures, should  guard  against  the  aggravation,  and  alleviate, 
when  possible,  the  burden  of  taxation.  That  the  military 
should  be  kept  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power. 
That  the  freedom  of  the  press  and  of  religious  opinion 
should  be  inviolate.  That  the  policy  of  our  country  is 
peace,  and  the  ark  of  our  salvation,  union,  are  articles 
of  faith  upon  which  we  are  all  agreed.  If  there  have 
been  those  who  doubted  whether  a  confederated  represen- 
tative democracy  were  a  government  competent  to  the 
wise  and  orderly  management  of  the  common  concerns 
pf  a  mighty  nation,  those  doubts  have  been  dispelled.  If 


94  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

there  have  been  projects  of  partial  confederacies  to  be 
erected  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Union,  they  have  been 
scattered  to  the  winds.  If  there  have  been  dangerous 
attachments  to  one  foreign  nation,  and  antipathies  against 
another,  they  have  been  extinguished.  Ten  years  of 
peace,  at  home  and  abroad,  have  assuaged  the  animosities 
of  political  contention,  and  blended  into  harmony  the 
most  discordant  elements  of  public  opinion.  There  still 
remains  one  effort  of  magnanimity,  one  sacrifice  of  pre- 
judice and  passion,  to  be  made  by  the  individuals  through- 
out the  nation,  who  have  heretofore  followed  the  standard 
of  political  party.  It  is  that  of  discarding  every  remnant 
of  rancor  against  each  other ;  of  embracing  as  country- 
men and  friends ;  and  of  yielding  to  talents  and  virtue 
alone,  that  confidence  which,  in  times  of  conMHtion  for 
principle,  was  bestowed  only  upon  those  who  bore  the 
badge  of  party  communion.  * 

The  collisions  of  party  spirit,  which  originate  in  specu- 
lative opinions,  or  in  different  views  of  administrative  poli- 
cy, are  in  their  nature  transitory.  Those  which  are  found- 
ed on  geographical  divisions,  adverse  interests  of  soil, 
climate,  and  modes  of  domestic  life,  are  more  permanent, 
and  therefore  perhaps  more  dangerous.  It  is  this  which 
gives  inestimable  value  to  the  character  of  our  govern- 
ment, at  once  federal  and  national.  It  holds  out  to  us  a 
perpetual  admonition  to  preserve  alike,  and  with  equal 
anxiety,  the  rights  of  each  individual  state  in  its  own 
government,  and  the  rights  of  the  whole  nation  in  that  of 
the  Union.  Whatever  is  of  domestic  concealment,  un- 
connected with  the  other  members  of  the  Union,  or  with 
foreign  lands,  belongs  exclusively  to  the  administration  of 
the  state  governments.  Whatsoever  directly  involves  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  federative  fraternity,  or  of  for- 
eign powers,  is  of  the  resort  of  this  general  government. 
The  duties  of  both  are  obvious  in  the  general  principle, 
though  sometimes  perplexed  with  difficulties  in  the  detail. 
To  respect  the  rights  of  the  state  governments  is  the  in- 
violable duty  of  that  of  the  Union ;  the  government  of 
every  state  will  feel  its  own  obligation  to  respect  and  pre- 
serve the  rights  of  the  whole.  The  prejudices  every  where 
too  commonly  entertained  against  distant  strangers  are 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  95 

worn  away,  and  the  jealousies  of  jarring  interests  are  al- 
layed by  the  composition  and  functions  of  the  great  na- 
tional councils  annually  assembled  from  all  quarters  of  the 
Union  at  this  place.  Here  the  distinguished  men  from 
every  section  of  our  country,  while  meeting  to  deliberate 
upon  the  great  interests  of  those  by  whom  they  are  depu- 
ted, learn  to  estimate  the  talents,  and  do  justice  to  the 
virtues  of  each  other.  The  harmony  of  the  nation  is 
promoted,  and  the  whole  Union  is  knit  together  by  the 
sentiments  of  mutual  respect,  the  habits  of  social  inter- 
course, and  the  ties  of  personal  friendship,  formed  be- 
tween the  representatives  of  its  several  parts,  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  service  at  this  metropolis. 

Passing  from  this  general  review  of  the  purposes  and 
injunctions  of  the  federal  constitution,  and  their  results, 
as  indicating  the  first  traces  of  the  path  of  duty  in  the  dis- 
charge of  my  public  trust,  I  turn  to  the  administration  of 
my  immediate  predecessor,  as  the  second.  It  has  passed 
away  in  a  period  of  profound  peace  :  how  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  our  country,  and  to  the  honor  of  our 
country's  name,  is  known  to  you  all.  The  great  features 
of  its  policy,  in  general  concurrence  with  the  will  of  the 
legislature,  have  been — to  cherish  peace  while  preparing 
for  defensive  war ;  to  yield  exact  justice  to  other  nations, 
and  maintain  the  rights  of  our  own ;  to  cherish  the  prin- 
ciples of  freedom  and  of  equal  rights,  wherever  they  were 
proclaimed  ;  to  discharge  with  all  possible  promptitude  the 
national  debt ;  to  reduce  within  the  narrowest  limits  of 
efficiency  the  military  force ;  to  improve  the  organization 
and  discipline  of  the  army  ;  to  provide  and  sustain  a 
school  of  military  science ;  to  extend  equal  protection  to 
all  the  great  interests  of  the  nation  ;  to  promote  the  civil- 
ization of  the  Indian  tribes  ;  and  to  proceed  in  the  great 
system  of  internal  improvements  within  the  limits  of  the 
constitutional  power  of  the  Union.  Under  the  pledge  of 
these  promises,  made  by  that  eminent  citizen,  at  the  time 
of  his  first  induction  to  this  office,  in  his  career  of  eight 
years,  the  internal  taxes  have  been  repealed ;  sixty  mil- 
lions of  the  public  debt  have  been  discharged;  provision 
has  been  made  for  the  comfort  and  relief  of  the  aged  and 
indigent  among  the  surviving  warriors  of  the  revolution ; 


96  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  regular  armed  force  has  been  reduced,  and  its  consti- 
tution revised  and  perfected ;  the  accountability  for  the 
expenditures  of  public  moneys  has  been  made  more  effect- 
ive ;  the  Floridas  have  been  peaceably  acquired,  and  our 
boundary  has  been  extended  to  the  Pacific  ocean  ;  the  in- 
dependence of  the  southern  nations  of  this  hemisphere 
has  been  recognized,  and  recommended  by  example  and 
by  counsel  to  the  potentates  of  Kurope  :  pro;rre>s  has  been 
made  in  the  defence  of  the  country  by  fortifications,  and 
the  increase  of  the  navy — towards  the  Hfrrtual  suppres- 
sion of  the  African  traffic  in  slaves — in  alluring  the  abori- 
ginal hunters  of  our  land  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and 
of  the  mind — in  exploring  the  interior  regions  of  the 
Union,  and  in  preparing,  by  scientific  researches  and  sur- 
veys, for  the  further  application  of  our  national  resources 
to  the  internal  improvement  of  our  country. 

In  this  brief  outline -of  the  promise  and  performance 
of  my  immediate  predecessor,  the  line  of  duty  for  his 
successor  is  clearly  delineated.  To  pursue  to  their  con- 
summation those  purposes  of  improvement  in  our  com- 
mon condition,  instituted  or  recommended  by  him,  will 
embrace  the  whole  sphere  of  my  obligations.  To  the 
topic  of  internal  improvement,  emphatically  urged  by  him 
at  his  inauguration,  I  recur  with  peculiar  satisfaction.  It 
is  that  from  which  I  am  convinced  that  the  unborn  mil- 
lions of  our  posterity,  who  are  in  future  ages  to  people 
this  continent,  will  derive  their  most  fervent  gratitude  to 
the  founders  of  the  Union  ;  that  in  which  the  beneficent 
action  of  its  government  will  be  most  deeply  felt  and  ac- 
knowledged. The  magnificence  and  splendor  of  their 
public  works  are  among  the  imperishable  irlories  of  the 
ancient  republics.  The  roads  and  aqueducts  of  Rome 
have  been  the  admiration  of  all  after-ages,  and  have  sur- 
vived thousands  of  years,  after  all  her  conquests  have 
been  swallowed  up  in  despotism,  or  become  the  spoil  of 
barbarians.  Some  diversity  of  opinion  has  prevailed  with 
regard  to  the  powers  of  Congress  for  legislation  upon 
objects  of  this  nature.  The  most  respectful  deference  is 
due  to  doubts,  originating  in  pure  patriotism,  and  sus- 
tained by  venerated  authority.  But  nearly  twenty  years 
have  passed  since  the  construction  of  the  first  national 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  97 

road  was  commenced.  The  authority  for  its  construc- 
tion was  then  unquestioned.  To  how  many  thousands  of 
our  countrymen  has  it  proved  a  benefit  1  To  what  single 
individual  has  it  ever  proved  an  injury  ?  Repeated,  libe- 
ral and  candid  discussions  in  the  legislature  have  concil- 
iated the  sentiments,  and  approximated  the  opinions  of 
enlightened  minds,  upon  the  question  of  constitutional 
power.  I  cannot  but  hope  that,  by  the  same  process  of 
friendly,  patient,  and  persevering  deliberation,  all  consti- 
tutional objections  will  ultimately  be  removed.  The  ex- 
tent and  limitation  of  the  powers  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, in  relation  to  this  transcendently  important  inte- 
rest, will  be  settled  and  acknowledged  to  the  common 
satisfaction  of  all ;  and  every  speculative  scruple  will  be 
solved  by  a  practical  public  blessing. 

Fellow-citizens,  you  are  acquainted  with  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  recent  elections,  which  have  result- 
ed in  affording  me  the  opportunity  of  addressing  you  at 
this  time.  You  have  heard  the  exposition  of  the  princi- 
ples which  will  direct  me  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  high 
and  solemn  trust  imposed  upon  me  in  this  station.  Less 
possessed  of  your  confidence  in  advance  than  any  of  my 
predecessors,  I  am  deeply  conscious  of  the  prospect  that 
I  shall  stand,  more  and  oftener,  in  need  of  your  indul- 
gence. Intentions,  upright  and  pure  ;  a  heart  devoted  to 
the  welfare  of  our  country,  and  the  unceasing  applica- 
tion of  the  faculties  allotted  to  me  to  her  service,  are  all 
the  pledges  that  I  can  give  to  the  faithful  performance  of 
the  arduous  duties  I  am  to  undertake.  To  the  guidance 
of  the  legislative  councils  ;  to  the  assistance  of  the  exe- 
cutive and  subordinate  departments  ;  to  the  friendly  co- 
operation of  the  respective  state  governments ;  to  the 
candid  and  liberal  support  of  the  people,  so  far  as  it  may 
be  deserved  by  honest  industry  and  zeal,  I  shall  look  for 
whatever  success  may  attend  my  public  service  :  and 
knowing  that,  except  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  the  watch- 
man waketh  but  in  vain,  with  fervent  supplications  for  his 
favor,  to  his  overruling  providence  I  commit,  with  hum- 
ble but  fearless  confidence,  my  own  fate  and  the  future 
destinies  of  my  country. 
9 


98  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

J.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER    6,    1825. 

To  the  Senate,  and 

House  of  Representatives  of  the   United  States  : 

In  taking  a  general  survey  of  the  concerns  of  our  be- 
loved country,  with  reference  to  subjects  interesting  to 
the  common  welfare,  the  first  sentiment  which  impresses 
itself  upon  the  mind,  is  of  gratitude  to  the  Omnipotent 
Disposer  of  all  good,  for  the  continuance  of  the  signal 
blessings  of  his  providence,  and  especially  for  that  health 
which,  to  an  unusual  extent,  has  prevailed  within  our  bor- 
ders ;  and  for  that  abundance  which,  in  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  seasons,  has  been  scattered  with  profusion  over  our 
land.  Nor  ought  we  less  to  ascribe  to  Him  the  glory,  that 
we  are  permitted  to  enjoy  the  bounties  of  his  hand  in 
peace  and  tranquillity — in  peace  with  all  the  other  nations 
of  the  earth,  in  tranquillity  among  ourselves.  There  has, 
indeed,  rarely  been  a  period  in  the  history  of  civilized 
man,  in  which  the  general  condition  of  the  Christian  na- 
tions has  been  marked  so  extensively  by  peace  and  pros»- 
perity.  » 

Europe,  with  a  few  partial  and  unhappy  exceptions, 
has  enjoyed  ten  years  of  peace,  during  which  all  her  gov- 
ernments, whatever  the  theory  of  their  constitutions  may 
have  been,  are  successively  taught  to  feel  that  the  end  of 
their  institutions  is  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  that 
the  exercise  of  power  among  men  can  be  justified  only 
by  the  blessings  it  confers  upon  those  over  whom  it  is 
extended. 

During  the  same  period,  our  intercourse  with  all  those 
nations  has  been  pacific  and  friendly;  it  so  continues. 
Since  the  close  of  your  late  session,  no  material  varia- 
tion has  occurred  in  our  relations  with  any  one  of  them. 
In  the  commercial  and  navigation  system  of  Great  Britain, 
important  changes  of  municipal  regulations  have  recently 
been  sanctioned  by  the  acts  of  parliament,  the  effect  of 
which  upon  the  interests  of  other  nations,  and  particu- 
larly upon  ours,  has  not  yet  been  fully  developed.  In  the 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  99 

recent  renewal  of  the  diplomatic  missions,  on  both  sides, 
between  the  two  governments,  assurances  have  been 
given  and  received  of  the  continuance  and  increase  of 
the  mutual  confidence  and  cordiality  by  which  the  adjust- 
ment of  many  points  of  difference  has  already  been  effect- 
ed, and  which  affords  the  surest  pledge  for  the  ultimate 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  those  which  still  remain  open, 
or  may  hereafter  arise. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States,  in  their  commercial 
intercourse  with  other  nations,   has  always  been  of  the 
most  liberal  character.     In  the  mutual  exchange  of  their 
respective   productions,  they  have    abstained    altogether 
from  prohibitions;  they  have  interdicted  themselves  the 
power  of  laying  taxes  upon  exports,  and  whenever  they 
have  favored  their   own  shipping,  by  special  preferences 
ox  exclusive  privileges  in  their  own  ports,   it  has    been 
only  with  a  view  to  countervail  similar  favors  and  exclu- 
sions granted  by  the  nations  with  whom  we  have    been 
eaigaged  in  traffic,  to  their  own  people  or  shipping,  and  to 
the  disadvantage  of  ours.     Immediately  after  the  close  of 
the  last  war,  a  proposal  was  fairly  made  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress of  the  3d  March,  1815,  to  all  maritime  nations,  to 
lay  aside  the  system  of  retaliating  restrictions  and  exclu- 
sions, and  to  place  the  shipping  of  both  parties  to  the 
common  trade  on  a  footing  of  equality  in  respect  to  the 
duties  of  tonnage  and  impost.     This   offer  was  partially 
and  successively  accepted  by  Great   Britain,  Sweden,  the 
Netherlands,  the  Hanseatic   cities,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  the 
Duke  of  Oldenburg,  and  Russia.     It  was  also  adopted, 
under  certain  modifications,  in  our  late  commercial  con- 
vention with  France.     And  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  the 
8th  of  January,  1824,  it  has  received  a  new  confirmation 
with  all  the  nations  who  had  acceded  to  it,  and  has  been 
offered  again  to  all  those  who  are  or  may  hereafter  be  will- 
ing to  abide  in  reciprocity  by  it.      But  all  these  regula- 
tions,   whether   established    by   treaty    or    by    municipal 
enactments,  are  still  subject  to  one  important  restriction. 
The  removal  of  discriminating  duties  of  tonnage  and 
impost,  is  limited  to  articles  of  the  growth,  produce,  or 
manufacture  of  the  country  to  which  the  vessel   belongs, 
or  to  such  articles  as  are  most  universally  shipped  from 


100  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

her  ports.  It  will  deserve  the  serious  consideration  of 
Congress,  whether  even  this  remnant  of  restriction  may 
not  be  safely  abandoned,  and  whether  the  general  tender 
of  equal  competition,  made  in  the  act  of  8th  January, 
1824,  may  not  be  extended  to  include  all  articles  of  mer- 
chandise not  prohibited,  of  what  country  soever  they  may 
be  the  produce  or  manufacture.  Propositions  to  this 
effect  have  already  been  made  to  us  by  more  than  one  Eu- 
ropean government,  and  it  is  probable  that  if  once  esta- 
blished by  legislation  or  compact  with  any  distinguished 
maritime  state,  it  would  recommend  itself,  by  the  experi- 
ence of  its  advantages,  to  the  general  accession  of  all. 

The  convention  of  commerce  and  navigation  between 
the  United  States  and  France,  concluded  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1822,  was,  in  the  understanding  and  intent  of  both 
parties,  as  appears  upon  its  face,  only  a  temporary  ar- 
rangement of  the  points  of  difference  between  them  of 
the  most  immediate  and  pressing  urgency.  It  was  limit- 
ed, in  the  first  instance,  to  two  years  from  the  first  of 
October,  1822,  but  with  a  proviso,  that  it  should  further 
continue  in  force  till  the  conclusion  of  a  general  and  de- 
finitive treaty  of  commerce,  unless  terminated  by  a  notice 
six  months  in  advance,  of  either  of  the  parties  to  the 
other.  Its  operation,  so  far  as  it  extended,  has  been  mu- 
tually advantageous ;  and  it  still  continues  in  force,  by 
common  consent.  But  it  left  unadjusted  several  objects 
of  trreat  interest  to  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  both  coun- 
tries, and  particularly  a  mass  of  claims,  to  considerable 
amount,  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  upon  the  govern- 
ment of  France,  of  indemnity  for  property  taken  or  de- 
stroyed, under  circumstances  of  the  most  aggravated  and 
outrageous  character.  In  the  long  period  during  which 
continued  and  earnest  appeals  have  been  made  to  the 
equity  and  magnanimity  of  France,  in  behalf  of  those 
claims,  their  justice  has  not  been,  as  it  could  not  be,  de- 
nied. It  was  hoped  that  the  accession  of  a  new  sovereign 
to  the  throne,  would  have  afforded  a  favorable  opportu- 
nity  for  presenting  them  to  the  consideration  of  his  go- 
U'rnment.  They  have  been  presented  and  urged,  hither- 
to, without  effect.  The  repeated  and  earnest  representa- 
tions of  our  minister  at  the  court  of  France,  remains  as 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          101 

yet  even  without  an  answer.  Were  the  demands  of  nfl- 
tions  upon  the  justice  of  each  other  susceptible  of  adju- 
dication by  the  decision  of  an  impartial  tribunal,  those  to 
whom  I  now  refer  would  long  since  have  been  settled, 
and  adequate  indemnity  would  have  been  obtained.  There 
are  large  amounts  of  similar  claims  upon  the  Nether- 
lands, Naples,  and  Denmark.  For  those  upon  Spain, 
prior  to  1819,  indemnity  was,  after  many  years  of  patient 
forbearance,  obtained,  and  those  of  Sweden  have  been 
lately  compromised  by  a  private  settlement,  in  which  the 
claimants  themselves  have  acquiesced.  The  governments 
of  Denmark  and  of  Naples  have  been  recently  reminded 
of  those  yet  existing  against  them  ;  nor  will  any  of  them 
be  forgotten  while  a  hope  may  be  indulged  of  obtaining 
justice,  by  the  means  within  the  constitutional  power  of 
the  executive,  and  without  resorting  to  those  means  of 
self-redress,  which,  as  well  as  the  time,  circumstances, 
and  occasion,  which  may  require  them,  are  within  the 
exclusive  competency  of  the  legislature. 

It  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  I  am  enabled  to  bear 
witness  to  the  liberal  spirit  with  which  the  republic  of 
Colombia  has  made  satisfaction  for  well-established  claims 
of  a  similar  character.  And  among  the  documents  now 
communicated  to  Congress,  will  be  distinguished  a  treaty 
of  commerce  and  navigation  with  that  republic,  the  rati- 
fications of  which  have  been  exchanged  since  the  last  re- 
cess of  the  legislature.  The  negotiation  of  similar  trea- 
ties with  all  the  independent  South  American  states,  has 
been  contemplated,  and  may  yet  be  accomplished.  The 
basis  of  them  all,  as  proposed  by  the  United  States,  has 
been  laid  in  two  principles ;  the  one,  of  entire  and  un- 
qualified reciprocity ;  the  other,  the  mutual  obligation  of 
the  parties  to  place  each  other  permanently  on  the  footing 
of  the  most  favored  nation.  These  principles  are,  indeed, 
indispensable  to  the  effectual  emancipation  of  the  Ameri- 
can hemisphere  from  the  thraldom  of  colonizing  monopo- 
lies and  exclusions — an  event  rapidly  realizing  in  the  pro- 
gress of  human  affairs,  and  which  the  resistance  still  op- 
posed in  certain  parts  of  Europe  to  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  Southern  American  republics  as  independent 
states,  will,  it  is  believed,  contribute  mare  effectually  to 
9* 


102  THE    Tnt'E    AMEKICAN. 

accomplish.  The  time  has  been,  and  that  not  remote, 
when  some  of  these  states  might,  in  their  anxious  desire 
to  obtain  a  nominal  recognition,  have  accepted  of  a  nomi- 
nal independence,  clogged  with  burdensome  conditions, 
and  exclusive  commercial  privileges,  granted  to  the  nation 
from  which  they  have  separated,  to  the  disadvantage  of 
all  others.  They  now  are  all  aware  that  such  conces- 
sions to  any  European  nation  would  be  incompatible  with 
that  independence  which  they  have  declared  and  main- 
tained. 

Among  the  measures  which  have  been  suggested  to 
them  by  the  new  relations  with  one  another,  resulting 
from  the  recent  changes  in  their  condition,  is  that  of  as- 
sembling at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  a  Congress,  at  which 
each  of  them  should  be  represented,  to  deliberate  upon 
objects  important  to  the  welfare  of  all.  The  republics 
of  Colombia,  of  Mexico,  and  of  Central  America,  have 
already  deputed  plenipotentiaries  to  such  a  meeting,  and 
they  have  invited  the  United  States  to  be  also  represented 
there  by  their  ministers.  The  invitation  has  been  accept- 
ed, and  ministers  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  will 
be  commissioned  to  attend  at  those  deliberations,  and  to 
take  part  in  them,  so  far  as  it  may  be  compatible  with 
that  neutrality  from  which  it  is  neither  our  intention  nor 
the  desire  of  the  American  states  that  we  should  depart. 

The  commissioners  under  the  seventh  article  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent  have  so  nearly  completed  their  arduous 
labors,  that,  by  the  report  recently  received  from  the  agent 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  there  is  reason  to  ex- 
pect that  the  commission  will  be  closed  at  their  next  ses- 
sion, appointed  for  the  22d  of  May,  of  the  ensuing  year. 

Tho  other  commission  appointed  to  ascertain  the  in- 
demnities due  for  slaves  carried  away  from  the  United 
States,  after  the  close  of  the  late  war,  have  met  with  some 
difficulty  which  ha>  delayed  their  progress  in  the  inquiry. 
A  reference  has  been  made  to  the  British  government  on 
the  subject,  which,  it  may  be  hoped,  will  tend  to  hasten 
the  decision  of  tlie  commissioners,  or  serve  as  a  substi- 
tute for  it. 

Among  the  powers  specifically  granted  to  Congress  by 
the  constitution,  are  those  of  establishing  uniform  laws 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          103 

on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United 
States  ;  and  for  providing  for  organizing,  arming,  and  dis- 
ciplining the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them 
as  may  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
The  magnitude  and  complexity  of  the  interests  affected 
by  legislation  upon  these  subjects,  may  account  for  the 
fact,  that  long  and  often  as  both  of  them  have  occupied 
the  attention,  and  animated  the  debates  of  Congress,  no 
systems  have  yet  been  devised  for  fulfilling,  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  community,  the  duties  prescribed  by  these 
grants  of  power.  To  conciliate  the  claim  of  the  indivi- 
dual citizen  to  the  enjoyment  of  personal  liberty,  with  the 
effective  obligation  of  private  contracts,  is  the  difficult 
problem  to  be  solved  by  a  law  of  bankruptcy.  These  are 
objects  of  the  deepest  interest  to  society ;  affecting  all 
that  is  precious  in  the  existence  of  multitudes  of  persons, 
many  of  them  in  the  classes  essentially  dependent  and 
helpless ;  of  the  age  requiring  nurture,  and  of  the  sex 
entitled  to  protection  from  the  free  agency  of  the  parent 
and  the  husband.  The  organization  of  the  militia  is  yet 
more  indispensable  to  the  liberties  of  the  country.  It  is 
only  by  an  effective  militia  that  we  can  at  once  enjoy  the 
repose  of  peace,  and  bid  defiance  to  foreign  aggression ; 
it  is  by  the  militia  that  we  are  constituted  an  armed  na- 
tion, standing  in  perpetual  panoply  of  defence,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  all  the  other  nations  of  the  earth.  To  this  end, 
it  would  be  necessary,  if  possible,  so  to  shape  its  organi- 
zation, as  to  give  it  a  more  united  and  active  energy.  There 
are  laws  for  establishing  a  uniform  militia  throughout 
the  United  States,  and  for  arming  and  equipping  its  whole 
body.  But  it  is  a  body  of  dislocated  members,  without 
the  vigor  of  unity,  and  having  little  of  uniformity  but 
the  name.  To  infuse  into  this  most  important  institution 
the  power  of  which  it  is  susceptible,  and  to  make  it  avail- 
able for  the  defence  of  the  Union,  at  the  shortest  notice,, 
and  at  the  smallest  expense  possible  of  time,  of  life,  and 
of  treasure,  are  among  the  benefits  to  be  expected  from 
the  persevering  deliberations  of  Congress. 

Among  the  unequivocal  indications  of  our  national 
prosperity,  is  the  flourishing  state  of  our  finances.  The 
revenues  of  the  present  year,  from  all  their  principal  sour-- 


104  THE   TRVE    AMERICAN. 

ces,  will  exceed  the  anticipations  of  the  last.  The  balance 
in  the  treasury  on  the  firs-t  of  January  last,  was  a  little 
short  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  exclusive  of  two  millions 
and  a  half,  being  a  moiety  of  the  loan  of  five  millions, 
authorized  by  the  act  of  the  26th  May,  1824.  The  re- 
ceipts into  the  treasury  from  the  first  of  January  to  the  30th 
of  September,  exclusive  of  the  other  moiety  of  the  same 
loan,  are  estimated  at  sixteen  millions  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars ;  and  it  is  expected  that  those  of  the  cur- 
rent quarter  will  exceed  five  millions  of  dollars ;  form- 
ing an  aggregate  of  receipts  of  nearly  twenty-two  mil- 
lions, independent  of  the  loan.  The  expenditures  of 
the  year  will  not  exceed  that  sum  more  than  two 
millions.  By  those  expenditures,  nearly  eight  mil- 
lions of  the  principal  of  the  public  debt  have  been  dis- 
charged. More  than  a  million  and  a  half  has  been  devo- 
ted to  the  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  warriors  of  the  revolu- 
tion ;  a  nearly  equal  sum  to  the  construction  of  fortifica- 
tions and  the  acquisition  of  ordnance,  and  other  perma- 
nent preparations  of  national  defence  ;  half  a  million  to 
the  gradual  increase  of  the  navy ;  an  equal  sum  for  pur- 
chases of  territory  from  the  Indians,  and  payment  of  an- 
nuities to  them ;  and  upwards  of  a  million  for  objects  of 
internal  improvement,  authorized  by  special  acts  of  the 
last  Congress.  If  we  add  to  these,  four  millions  of  dol- 
lars for  payment  of  interest  upon  the  public  debt,  there 
remains  a  sum  of  about  seven  millions,  which  have 
defrayed  the  whole  expense  of  the  administration  of 
government,  in  its  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary 
departments,  including  the  support  of  the  military  and 
naval  establishments,  and  all  the  occasional  contingencies 
of  a  government  co-extensive  with  the  Union. 

The  amount  of  duties  secured  on  merchandise  import- 
ed, since  the  commencement  of  the  year,  is  about  twenty- 
five  millions  and  a  half;  and  that  which  will  accrue  during 
the  current  quarter,  is  estimated  at  five  millions  and  a  half  ; 
from  these  thirty-one  millions,  deducting  the  drawbacks, 
estimated  at  less  than  seven  millions,  a  sum  exceeding 
twenty-four  millions  will  constitute  the  revenue  of  the 
year,  and  will  exceed  the  whole  expenditures  of  the  year. 
The  entire  amount  of  the  public  debt  remaining  due  oa 


y.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  105 

the  first  of  January  next,  will  be  short  of  eighty-one  mil- 
lions of  dollars. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  of  the  3d  of  March  last,  a  loan 
of  twelve  millions  of  dollars  was  authorized  at  four  and 
a  half  per  cent.,  or  an  exchange  of  stock  to  that  amount, 
of  four  and  a  half  per  cent.,  for  a  stock  of  six  per  cent., 
to  create  a  fund  for  extinguishing  an  equal  amount  of  the 
public  debt,  bearing  an  interest  of  six  percent.,  redeema- 
ble in  1826.  An  account  of  the  measures  taken  to  give 
effect  to  this  act  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  As  the  object  which  it  had  in  view  has 
been  but  partially  accomplished,  it  will  be  for  the  consid- 
eration of  Congress,  whether  the  power  with  which  it 
clothed  the  executive  should  not  be  renewed  at  an  early 
day  of  the  present  session,  and  under  what  modifications. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  the  3d  of  March  last,  direct- 
ing the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  subscribe,  in  the 
name  and  for  the  use  of  the  United  States,  for  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Delaware  Canal  company,  has  been  executed 
by  the  actual  subscription  for  the  amount  specified  ;  and 
such  other  measures  have  been  adopted  by  that  officer, 
under  the  act,  as  the  fulfilment  of  its  intentions  requires. 
The  latest  accounts  received  of  this  important  underta- 
king, authorize  the  belief  that  it  is  in  successful  progress. 

The  payments  into  the  treasury  from  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands,  during  the  present  year,  were 
estimated  at  one  million  of  dollars.  The  actual  receipts 
of  the  first  two  quarters  have  fallen  very  little  short  of 
that  sum  :  it  is  not  expected  that  the  second  half  of  the 
year  will  be  equally  productive ;  but  the  income  of  the 
year,  from  that  source,  may  now  be  safely  estimated  at  a 
million  and  a  half.  The  act  of  Congress  of  the  18th  of 
May,  1824,  to  provide  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  debt 
due  to  the  United  States  by  thepurchasers  of  public  lands, 
was  limited,  in  its  operation  of  relief  to  the  purchaser,  to 
the  10th  of  April  last.  Its  effect  at  the  end  of  the  quar- 
ter during  which  it  expired,  was  to  reduce  that  debt  from 
ten  to  seven  millions.  By  the  operation  of  similar  prior 
laws  of  relief,  from  and  since  that  of  2d  March,  1821, 
the  debt  had  been  reduced  from  upwards  of  twenty-two 


106  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

millions  to  ten.  It  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  it  should 
be  extinguished  altogether  ;  and  to  facilitate  that  consum- 
mation, I  recommend  to  Congress  the  revival,  for  one 
year  more,  of  the  act  of  18th  May,  1824,  with  such  pro- 
visional modification  as  may  be  necessary  to  guard  the 
public  interests  against  fraudulent  practices  in  the  re-sale 
of  relinquished  land.  The  purchasers  of  public  lands  are 
among  the  most  useful  of  our  fellow-citizens  ;  and,  since 
the  system  of  sales  for  cash  alone  has  been  introduced, 
great  indulgence  has  been  justly  extended  to  those  who  had 
previously  purchased  upon  credit.  The  debt  which  had 
been  contracted  under  the  credit  sales  had  become  un- 
wieldy,and  its  extinction  was  alike  advantageous  to  the  pur- 
chaser and  the  public.  Under  the  system  of  sales,  matured 
as  it  has  been  by  experience,  and  adapted  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  times,  the  lands  will  continue,  as  they  have  be- 
come, an  abundant  source  of  revenue;  and  when  the 
pledge  of  them  to  the  public  creditor  shall  have  been  re- 
deemed, by  the  entire  discharge  of  the  national  debt,  the 
swelling  tide  of  wealth  with  which  they  replenish  the  com- 
mon treasury,  may  be  made  to  reflow  in  unfailing  streams 
of  improvement,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ocean. 

The  condition  of  the  various  branches  of  the  public 
service  resorting  from  the  Department  of  War,  and  their 
administration  during  the  current  year,  will  be  exhibited 
in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  accompa- 
nying documents,  herewith  communicated.  The  organi- 
zation and  discipline  of  the  army  are  effective  and  satis- 
factory. To  counteract  the  prevalence  of  desertion 
among  the  troops,  it  has  been  suggested  to  withhold  from 
the  men  a  small  portion  of  their  monthly  pay,  until  the 
period  of  their  discharge ;  and  some  expedient  appears  to 
be  necessary,  to  preserve  and  maintain  among  the  officers 
so  much  of  the  art  of  horsemanship  as  could  scarcely  fail 
to  be  found  wanting  on  the  possibly  sudden  eruption  of  a 
war,  which  should  overtake  us  unprovided  with  a  single 
corps  of  cavalry.  The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
under  the  restrictions  of  a  severe  but  paternal  superinten- 
dence, recommends  itself  more  and  more  to  the  patrorv- 
age  of  the  nation ;  and  the  number  of  meritorious  offi- 
cers which  it  forms  and  introduces  to  the  public  ser- 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.         107 

vice,  furnishes  the  means  of  multiplying  the  undertaking 
of  public  improvements,  to  which  their  acquirements  at 
that  institution  are  peculiarly  adapted.  The  school  of 
artillery  practice,  established  at  Fortress  Monroe,  is  well 
suited  to  the  same  purpose,  and  may  need  the  aid  of  fur- 
ther legislative  provision  to  the  same  end.  The  reports 
of  the  various  officers  at  the  head  of  the  administrative 
branches  of  the  military  service,  connected  with  the  quar- 
tering, clothing,  subsistence,  health  and  pay  of  the  army, 
exhibit  the  assiduous  vigilance  of  those  officers  in  the 
performance  of  their  respective  duties,  and  the  faithful 
accountability  which  has  pervaded  every  part  of  the 
system. 

Our  relations  with  the  numerous  tribes  of  aboriginal 
natives  of  this  country,  scattered  over  its  extensive  sur- 
face, and  so  dependent,  even  for  their  existence,  upon  our 
power,  have  been  during  the  present  year  highly  interest- 
ing. An  act  of  Congress  of  the  25th  of  May,  1824, 
made  an  appropriation  to  defray  the  expenses  of  making 
treaties  of  trade  and  friendship  with  the  Indian  tribes  be- 
yond the  Mississippi.  An  act  of  the  3d  of  March,  1825, 
authorized  treaties  to  be  made  with  the  Indians  for  their 
consent  to  the  making  of  a  road  from  the  frontier  of  Mis- 
souri to  that  of  New  Mexico.  And  another  act,  of  the 
same  date,  provided  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  hold- 
ing treaties  with  the  Sioux,  Chippewas,  Menomonees, 
Sacs,  Foxes,  &,c.  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  boun- 
daries and  promoting  peace  between  said  tribes.  The 
first  and  the  last  objects  of  these  acts  have  been  accom- 
plished ;  and  the  second  is  yet  in  a  process  of  execution. 
The  treaties  which,  since  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
have  been  concluded  with  the  several  tribes,  will  be  laid 
before  the  Senate  for  their  consideration,  conformably  to 
the  constitution.  They  comprise  large  and  valuable 
acquisitions  of  territory ;  and  they  secure  an  adjustment 
of  boundaries,  and  give  pledges  of  permanent  peace  be- 
tween several  tribes  which  had  been  long  waging  bloody 
wars  against  each  other. 

On  the  12th  of  February  last,  a  treaty  was  signed  at 
the  Indian  Springs,  between  commissioners  appointed  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  certain  chiefs  and  indi- 


JL 
108  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

victuals  of  the  Creek  nation  of  Indians,  which  was  recei- 
ved at  the  seat  of  government  only  a  very  few  days  before 
the  close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress  and  of  the  late 
administration.  The  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate 
was  given  to  it  on  the  3d  of  March,  too  late  for  it  to  re- 
ceive the  ratification  of  the  then  President  of  the  United 
States:  it  was  ratified  on  the  7th  of  March,  under  the 
unsuspecting  impression  that  it  had  been  negotiated  in 
good  faith  and  in  the  confidence  inspired  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Senate.  The  subsequent  transactions  in 
relation  to  this  treaty  will  form  the  subject  of  a  separate 
communication. 

The  appropriations  made  by  Congress  for  public  works, 
as  well  in  the  construction  of  fortifications,  as  for  pur- 
poses of  internal  improvement,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
expended,  have  been  faithfully  applied.  Their  progress 
has  been  delayed  by  the  want  of  suitable  officers  for  su- 
perintending them.  An  increase  of  both  the  corps  of 
engineers,  military  and  topographical,  was  recommended 
by  my  predecessor  at  the  last  session  of  Congress.  The 
reasons  upon  which  that  recommendation  was  founded, 
subsist  in  all  their  force,  and  have  acquired  additional 
urgency  since  that  time.  It  may  also  be  expedient  to 
organize  the  topographical  engineers  into  a  corps  similar 
to  the  present  establishment  of  the  corps  of  engineers. 
The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  will  furnish,  from 
the  cadets  annually  graduated  there,  officers  well  qualified 
for  carrying  this  measure  into  effect. 

The  board  of  engineers  for  internal  improvement,  ap- 
pointed for  carrying  into  execution  the  act  of  Congress 
of  30th  April,  1^24,  "to  procure  the  necessary  surveys, 
plans  and  estimates,  on  the  subject  of  roads  and  canals," 
have  been  actively  engaged  in  that  service  from  the  close 
of  the  last  session  of  Congress.  They  have  completed 
the  surveys  necessary  for  ascertaining  the  practicability 
of  a  canal  from  the  Chesapeake  bay  to  the  Ohio  river, 
and  are  preparing  a  full  report  on  that  subject,  which, 
when  completed,  will  be  laid  before  you.  The  same  ob- 
servation is  to  be  made  with  regard  to  the  two  other  ob- 
jects of  national  importance,  upon  which  the  board  have 
been  occupied  ;  namely,  the  accomplishment  of  a  nation- 


*.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          1C9 

al  road  from  this  city  to  New  Orleans,  and  the  practica- 
bility of  uniting  the  waters  of  Lake  Memphremagog  with 
Connecticut  river,  and  the  improvement  of  the  naviga- 
tion of  that  river.  The  surveys  have  been  made,  and  are 
nearly  completed.  The  report  may  be  expected  at  an 
early  period  during  the  present  session  of  Congress. 

The  acts  of  Congress  of  the  last  session,  relative  to  the 
surveying,  marking,  or  laying  out  roads  in  the  territory 
of  Florida,  Arkansas,  and  Michigan,  from  Missouri  to 
Mexico,  and  for  the  continuation  of  the  Cumberland  road, 
are,  some  of  them,  fully  executed,  and  others  in  the  pro- 
cess of  execution.  Those  for  completing  or  commencing 
fortifications,  have  been  delayed  only  so  far  as  the  corps 
of  engineers  have  been  inadequate  to  furnish  officers  for 
the  necessary  superintendence  of  the  works.  Under  the 
act  confirming  the  statutes  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  in- 
corporating the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  Company, 
three  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  have 
been  appointed  for  opening  books  and  receiving  subscrip- 
tions, in  concert  with  a  like  number  of  commissioners 
appointed  on  the  part  of  each  of  those  states.  A  meet- 
ing of  the  commissioners  has  been  postponed,  to  await 
the  definitive  report  of  the  board  of  engineers.  The  light- 
houses and  monuments  for  the  safety  of  our  commerce 
and  mariners ;  the  works  for  the  security  of  Plymouth 
Beach,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  islands  in  Boston 
harbor,  have  received  the  attention  required  by  the  laws 
relating  to  those  objects,  respectively.  The  continuation 
of  the  Cumberland  road,  the  most  important  of  them  all, 
after  surmounting  no  inconsiderable  difficulty  in  fixing 
upon  the  direction  of  the  road,  has  commenced  under 
the  most  promising  auspices,  with  the  improvements  of 
recent  invention  in  the  mode  of  construction,  and  with 
the  advantage  of  a  great  reduction  in  the  comparative 
cost  of  the  work. 

The  operation  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  revolutionary 
pensioners  may  deserve  the  renewed  consideration  of 
Congress.  The  act  of  the  18th  March,  1818,  while  it 
made  provision  for  many  meritorious  and  indigent  citi- 
zens who  had  served  in  the  war  of  independence,  opened 
a  door  to  numerous  abuses  and  impositions.  To  remedy 
10 


110  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tins,  the  act  of  1st  May,  1820,  exacted  proofs  of  absolute 
indigence;  which  many  really  in  want  were  unable,  and 
all,  susceptible  of  that  delicacy  which  is  allied  to  many 
virtues,  must  be  deeply  reluctant  to  give.  The  result  has 
been,  that  some  among  the  least  deserving  have  been  re- 
tained, and  some  in  whom  the  requisites  both  of  worth  and 
want  were  combined,  have  been  stricken  from  the  list.  As 
the  numbers  of  these  venerable  relics  of  an  age  gone  by,  di- 
minish ;  as  the  decays  of  body,  mind  and  estate,  of  those 
that  survive,  must,  in  the  common  course  of  nature,  in- 
crease;  should  not  a  more  liberal  portion  of  indulgence 
be  dealt  out  to  them  1  May  not  the  want  in  most  instan- 
ces be  inferred  from  the  demand,  when  the  service  can  be 
duly  proved  ;  and  may  not  the  last  days  of  human  infirmity 
be  spared  the  mortification  of  purchasing  a  pittance  of  re- 
lief, only  by  the  exposure  of  its  own  necessities?  I  sub- 
mit to  Congress  the  expediency  of  providing  for  individu- 
al cases  of  this  description,  by  special  enactment,  or  of 
revising  the  act  of  the  1st  of  May,  1820,  with  a  view  to 
mitigate  the  rigor  of  its  exclusions,  in  favor  of  persons 
to  whom  charity,  now  bestowed,  can  scarcely  discharge 
the  debt  of  justice. 

The  portion  of  the  naval  force  of  the  Union,  in  actual 
service,  has  been  chiefly  employed  on  three  stations  :  the 
.Mediterranean,  the  coasts  of  South  America  bordering 
on  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  the  West  Indies.  An  occasion- 
al cruiser  has  been  sent  to  range  along  the  African  shores 
most  polluted  by  the  traffic  of  slaves ;  one  armed  vessel 
has  been  stationed  on  the  coast  of  our  eastern  boundary, 
to  cruise  along  the  fishing  grounds  in  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
on  the  coast  of  Labrador ;  and  the  first  service  of  a  new 
frigate  has  been  performed,  in  restoring  to  his  native  soil 
and  domestic  enjoyments,  the  veteran  hero  whose  youth- 
ful blood  and  treasure  had  freely  flowed  in  the  cause  of 
our  country's  independence,  and  whose  whole  life  has 
been  a  series  of  services  and  sacrifices  to  the  improve- 
ment of  his  fellow-men.  The  visit  of  General  Lafayette, 
alike  honorable  to  himself  and  to  our  country,  closed,  as 
it  had  commenced,  with  the  most  affecting  testimonials 
of  devoted  attachment  on  his  part,  and  of  unbounded 
gratitude  of  this  people  to  him  in  return.  It  will  form, 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.         Ill 

hereafter,  a  pleasing  incident  in  the  annals  of  our  Union, 
giving  to  real  history  the  intense  interest  of  romance, 
and  signally  marking  the  unpurchasable  tribute  of  a  great 
nation's  social  affections  to  the  disinterested  champion  of 
the  liberties  of  human  kind. 

The  constant  maintenance  of  a  small  squadron  in  the 
Mediterranean,  is  a  necessary  substitute  for  the  humilia- 
ting alternative  of  paying  tribute  for  the  security  of  our 
commerce  in  that  sea,  and  for  a  precarious  peace,  at  the 
mercy  of  every  caprice  of  four  Barbary  states,  by  whom 
it  was  liable  to  be  violated.  An  additional  motive  for 
keeping  a  respectable  force  stationed  there  at  this  time, 
is  found  in  the  maritime  war  raging  between  the  Greeks 
and  the  Turks ;  and  in  which  the  neutral  navigation  of 
this  Union  is  always  in  danger  of  outrage  and  depreda- 
tion. A  few  instances  have  occurred  of  such  depreda- 
tions upon  our  merchant  vessels  by  privateers  or  pirates 
wearing  the  Grecian  flag,  but  without  real  authority  from 
the  Greek  or  any  other  government.  The  heroic  strug- 
gles of  the  Greeks  themselves,  in  which  our  warmest  sym- 
pathies as  freemen  and  Christians  have  been  engaged,  have 
continued  to  be  maintained  with  vicissitudes  of  success 
adverse  and  favorable. 

Similar  motives  have  rendered  expedient  the  keep- 
ing of  a  like  force  on  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Chili,  on 
the  Pacific.  The  irregular  and  convulsive  character  of 
the  war  upon  the  shores,  has  been  extended  to  the  con- 
flicts upon  the  ocean.  An  active  warfare  has  been  kept 
up  for  years,  with  alternate  success,  though  generally  to 
the  advantage  of  the  American  patriots.  But  their  naval 
forces  have  not  always  been  under  the  control  of  their 
own  governments.  Blockades,  unjustifiable  upon  any  ac- 
knowledged principles  of  international  law,  have  been 
proclaimed  by  officers  in  command;  and  though  disavow- 
ed by  the  supreme  authorities,  the  protection  of  our  own 
commerce  against  them  has  been  made  a  cause  of  com- 
plaint and  erroneous  imputations  against  some  of  the  most 
gallant  officers  of  our  navy.  Complaints  equally  ground- 
less have  been  made  by  the  commanders  of  the  Spanish 
royal  forces  in  those  seas ;  but  the  most  effective  protec- 
tion to  our  commerce  has  been  the  flag  and  the  firmness 


112  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  our  own  commanding  officers.  The  cessation  of  the 
war,  by  the  complete  triumph  of  the  patriot  cause,  has 
removed,  it  is  hoped,  all  cause  of  dissention  with  one 
party,  and  all  vestige  of  force  of  the  other.  But  an  un- 
settled coast  of  many  degrees  of  latitude,  forming  a  part 
of  our  own  territory,  and  a  flourishing  commerce  and  fish- 
ery, extending  to  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  and  to  China, 
still  require  that  the  protecting  power  of  the  Union 
should  be  displayed  under  its  flag,  as  well  upon  the  ocean 
as  upon  the  land. 

The  objects  of  the  West  Indies  squadron  have  been, 
to  carry  into  execution  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the 
African  slave  trade ;  for  the  protection  of  our  commerce 
against  vessels  of  piratical  character,  though  bearing 
commissions  from  either  of  the  belligerent  parties ;  for 
its  protection  against  open  and  unequivocal  pirates. 
These  objects,  during  the  present  year,  have  been  ac- 
complished more  effectually  than  at  any  former  period. 
The  African  slave  trade  has  long  been  excluded  from  the 
use  of  our  flag;  and  if  some  few  citizens  of  our  country 
have  continued  to  set  the  laws  of  the  Union,  as  well  as 
those  of  nature  and  humanity,  at  defiance,  by  persevering 
in  that  abominable  traffic,  it  has  been  only  by  sheltering 
themselves  under  the  banners  of  other  nations,  less  earn- 
est for  the  total  extinction  of  the  trade  than  ours.  The 
irregular  privateers  have,  within  the  last  year,  been  in  a 
great  measure  banished  from  those  seas;  and  the  pirates, 
for  months  past,  appear  to  have  been  almost  entirely 
swept  away  from  the  borders  and  the  shores  of  the  two 
Spanish  islands  in  those  regions.  The  active,  perseve- 
ring, and  unremitted  energy  of  Captain  Warrington, 
and  of  the  officers  and  men  under  his  command,  on  that 
trying  and  perilous  service,  have  been  crowned  with  sig- 
nal success,  and  are  entitled  to  the  approbation  of  their 
country.  But  experience  has  shown  that  not  even  a 
temporary  suspension  or  relaxation  from  assiduity  can  be 
indulged  on  that  station  without  reproducing  piracy  and 
murder  in  all  their  horrors ;  nor  is  it  probable  that,  for 
years  to  come,  our  immensely  valuable  commerce  in  those 
seas  can  navigate  in  security,  without  the  steady  continu- 
ance of  an  armed  force  devoted  to  its  protection. 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.         113 

It  were  indeed  a  vain  and  dangerous  illusion  to  believe 
that  in  the  present  or  probable  condition  of  human  soci- 
ety, a  commerce  so  extensive  and  so  rich  as  ours  could 
exist  and  be  pursued  in  safety,  without  the  continual  sup- 
port of  a  military  marine — the  only  arm  by  which  the 
power  of  this  confederacy  can  be  estimated  or  felt  by 
foreign  nations,  and  the  only  standing  military  force  which 
can  never  be  dangerous  to  our  own  liberties  at  home. 
A  permanent  naval  peace  establishment,  therefore,,  adapt- 
ed to  our  present  condition,  and  adaptable  to  that  gigan- 
tic growth  with  which  the  nation  is  advancing  in  its  ca- 
reer, is  among  the  subjects  which  have  already  occupied 
the  foresight  of  the  last  Congress,  and  which  will  deserve 
your  serious  deliberations.  Our  navy,  commenced  at  an 
early  period  of  our  present  political  organization,  upon  a 
scale  commensurate  with  the  incipient  energies,  the  scan- 
ty resources,  and  the  comparative  indigence  of  our  infan- 
cy, was  even  then  found  adequate  to  cope  with  all  the 
powers  of  Barbary,  save  the  first,  and  with  one  of  the 
principal  maritime  powers  of  Europe. 

At  a  period  of  further  advancement,  but  with  little  ac- 
cession of  strength,  it  not  only  sustained  with  honor  the 
most  unequal  of  conflicts,  but  covered  itself  and  our 
country  with  unfading  glory.  But  it  is  only  since  the 
close  of  the  late  war  that,  by  the  numbers  and  force  of 
the  ships  of  which  it  was  composed,  it  could  deserve  the 
name  of  a  navy.  Yet  it  retains  nearly  the  same  organi- 
zation as  when  it  consisted  of  only  five  frigates.  The 
rules  and  regulations  by  which  it  is  governed  earnestly 
call  for  revision  ;  and  the  want  of  a  naval  school  of  in- 
struction, corresponding  with  the  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point,  for  the  formation  of  scientific  and  accom- 
plished officers,  is  felt  with  daily  increasing  aggravation. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  26th  of  May,  1824,  authori- 
zing an  examination  and  survey  of  the  harbor  of  Charles- 
ton, in  South  Carolina,  of  St.  Mary's,  in  Georgia,  and  of 
the  coast  of  Florida,  and  for  other  purposes,  has  been 
executed  so  far  as  the  appropriation  would  admit.  Those 
of  the  third  of  March  last,  authorizing  the  establish- 
ment of  a  navy  yard  and  depot  on  the  coast  of  Florida,, 
in,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  authorizing  the  building  of 


114  THE    TRCE    AMERICAN. 

ten  sloops  of  war,  and  for  other  purposes,  are  in  the 
course  of  execution :  for  the  particulars  of  which  and 
other  objects  connected  with  this  department,  I  refer  to 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  herewith  com- 
municated. 

A  report  from  the  Postmaster-general  is  also  submit- 
ted, exhibiting  the  present  flourishing  condition  of  that 
department.  For  the  first  time  for  many  years,  the  re- 
ceipts for  the  year  ending  on  the  first  of  July  last,  ex- 
ceeded the  expenditures  during  the  same  period,  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  forty-five  thousand  dollars.  Other 
facts,  equally  creditable  to  the  administration  of  this 
department,  are,  that  in  two  years  from  the  first  of  July, 
1823,  an  improvement  of  more  than  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  thousand  dollars,  in  its  pecuniary  affairs,  has 
been  realized  ;  that,  in  the  same  interval,  the  increase  of 
the  transportation  of  the  mail  has  exceeded  one  million 
five  hundred  thousand  miles  annually ;  and  that  one 
thousand  and  forty  new  post-offices  have  been  esta- 
blished. It  hence  appears,  that  under  judicious  manage- 
ment, the  income  from  this  establishment  may  be  relied 
on  as  fully  adequate  to  defray  its  expenses ;  and  that,  by 
the  discontinuance  of  post  roads,  altogether  unproduc- 
tive, others  of  more  useful  character  may  be  opened, 
till  the  circulation  of  the  mail  shall  keep  pace  with  the 
spread  of  our  population,  and  the  comforts  of  friendly 
correspondence,  the  exchanges  of  internal  traffic,  and 
the  lights  of  the  periodical  press,  shall  be  distributed  to 
the  remotest  corners  of  the  Union,  at  a  charge  scarcely 
perceptible  to  any  individual,  and  without  the  cost  of  a 
dollar  to  the  public  treasury. 

Upon  this  first  occasion  of  addressing  the  legislature 
of  the  Union,  with  which  I  have  been  honored,  in  pre- 
senting to  their  view  the  execution,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
effected,  of  the  measures  sanctioned  by  them,  for  pro- 
moting the  internal  improvement  of  our  country,  I  can- 
iiot  close  the  communication  without  recommending  to 
their  calm  and  persevering  consideration  the  general 
principle  in  a  more  enlarged  extent.  The  great  object 
of  the  institution  of  civil  government  is  the  improvement 
of  the  condition  of  those  who  are  parties  to  the  social 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          115 

compact.  And  no  government,  in  whatever  form  con- 
stituted, can  accomplish  the  lawful  ends  of  its  institution, 
but  in  proportion  as  it  improves  the  condition  of  those 
over  whom  it  is  established.  Roads  and  canals,  by  mul- 
tiplying and  facilitating  the  communications  and  inter- 
course between  distant  regions  and  multitudes  of  men, 
are  among  the  most  important  means  of  improvement. 
But  moral,  political  and  intellectual  improvement,  are 
duties  assigned  by  the  Author  of  our  existence,  to  social-, 
no  less  than  to  individual  man.  For  the  fulfilment  of 
those  duties,  governments  are  invested  with  power ;  and, 
to  the  attainmem  of  the  end,  the  progressive  improve- 
ment of  the  condition  of  the  governed,  the  exercise  of 
delegated  powers  is  a  duty  as  sacred  and  indispensable, 
as  the  usurpation  of  powers  not  granted  is  criminal  and 
odious.  Among  the  first,  perhaps  the  very  first  instru- 
ment for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  men,  is 
knowledge  ;  and  to  the  acquisition  of  much  of  the  know- 
ledge adapted  to  the  wants,  the  comforts,  and  enjoyments 
of  human  life,  public  institutions  and  seminaries  of 
learning  are  essential.  So  convinced  of  this  was  the 
first  of  my  predecessors  in  this  office,  now  first  in  the 
memory  as,  living,  he  was  first  in  the  hearts  of  our  coun- 
try, that  once  and  again,  in  his  addresses  to  the  Con- 
gresses with  whom  he  co-operated  in  the  public  service, 
he  earnestly  recommended  the  establishment  of  seminaries 
of  learning,  to  prepare  for  all  the  emergencies  of  peace 
and  war — a  national  university,  and  a  military  academy. 
With  respect  to  the  latter,  had  he  lived  to  the  present 
day,  in  turning  his  eyes  to  the  institution  at  West  Point, 
he  would  have  enjoyed  the  gratification  of  his  most  earn- 
est wishes.  But,  in  surveying  the  city  which  has  been 
honored  with  his  name,  he  would  have  seen  the  spot 
of  earth  which,  he  had  destined  and  bequeathed  to  the 
use  and  benefit  of  his  country  as  the  site  for  a  universi-* 
ty,  still  bare  and  barren. 

In  assuming  her  station  among  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  earth,  it  would  seem  that  our  country  had  contracted 
the  engagement  to  contribute  her  share  of  mind,  of  la- 
bor, and  of  expense,  to  the  improvement  of  those  parts 
of  knowledge  which  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  individual 


116  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

acquisition;  and  particularly  to  geographical  and  astro- 
nomical science.  Looking  hack  to  the  history  only  of 
half  the  century  since  the  declaration  of  our  independ- 
ence, and  observing  the  jrciifmus  emulation  with  which 
the  governments  of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  Russia, 
have  devoted  the  genius,  the  i-ntelligence,  the  treasures 
of  their  respective  nations,  to  the  common  improvement 
of  the  species  in  these  branches  of  science,  is  it  not  in- 
cumbent upon  us  to  inquire  whether  we  are  not  bound 
by  obligations  of  a  high  and  honorable  character  to  con- 
tribute our  portion  of  energy  and  exertion  to  the  common 
stock  ?  The  voyages  of  discovery  prosecuted  in  the 
course  of  that  time  at  the  expense  of  those  nations,  have 
not  only  redounded  to  their  glory,  but  to  the  improvement 
of  human  knowledge.  We  have  been  partakers  of  that 
improvement,  and  owe  for  it  a  sacred  debt,  not  only  of 
gratitude,  but  of  equal  or  proportional  exertion  in  the 
same  common  cause.  Of  the  cost  of  these  undertakings, 
if  the  mere  expenditures  of  outfit,  equipment,  and  com- 
pletion of  the  expeditions,  were  to  be  considered  the 
only  charges,  i.i  would  be  unworthy  of  a  great  and  gene- 
rous nation  to  take  a  second  thought.  One  hundred 
expeditiona  of  circumnavigation,  like  those  of  Cook  and 
La  Perouse,  would  not  burden  the  exchequer  of  the  na- 
tion fitting  them  out,  so  much  as  the  ways  and  means  of 
defraying  a  single  campaign  in  war.  But  if  we  take 
into  the  account  the  lives  of  those  benefactors  of  man- 
kind, of  which  their  services  in  the  cause  of  their  species 
were  the  purchase,  how  shall  the  cost  of  those  heroic 
enterprises  be  estimated  ?  And  what  compensation  can 
be  made  to  them,  or  to  their  countries  for  them  1  Is  it 
not  by  bearing  them  in  affectionate  remembrance  ?  Is  it 
not  still  more  by  imitating  their  example?  by  enabling 
countrymen  of  our  own  to  pursue  the  same  career,  and 
to  hazard  their  lives  in  the  same  cause  ? 

On  inviting  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  subject  of 
internal  improvements,  upon  a  view  thus  enlarged,  it  is 
not  my  design  to  recommend  the  equipment  of  an  expe- 
dition for  circumnavigating  the  globe  for  purposes  of 
scientific  research  and  inquiry.  We  have  objects  of 
useful  investigation,  nearer  home,  and  to  which  our  cares 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          117 

may  be  more  beneficially  applied.  The  interior  of  our 
own  territories  has  yet  been  very  imperfectly  explored. 
Our  coasts,  along  many  degrees  of  latitude  upon  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  though  much  frequented  by 
our  spirited  commercial  navigators,  have  been  barely 
visited  by  our  public  ships.  The  river  of  the  west,  first 
fully  discovered  and  navigated  by  a  countryman  of  our 
own,  still  bears  the  name  of  the  ship  in  which  he  as- 
cended its  waters,  and  claims  the  protection  of  our  armed 
national  flag  at  its  mouth.  With  the  establishment  of  a 
military  post  there,  or  at  some  other  point  of  that  coast, 
recommended  by  my  predecessor,  and  already  matured 
in  the  deliberations  of  the  last  Congress,  I  would  suggest 
the  expediency  of  connecting  the  equipment  of  a  public 
ship  for  the  exploration  of  the  whole  north-west  coast  of 
tin's  continent. 

The  establishment  of  a  uniform  standard  of  weights 
and  measures,  was  one  of  the  specific  objects  contem- 
plated in  the  formation  of  our  constitution;  and  to  fix 
that  standard  was  one  of  the  powers  delegated  by  express 
terms,  in  that  instrument,  to  Congress.  The  governments 
of  Great  Britain  and  France  have  scarcely  ceased  to  be 
occupied  with  inquiries  and  speculations  on  the  same 
subject,  since  the  existence  of  our  constitution  ;  and 
with  them  it  has  expanded  into  profound,  laborious,  and 
expensive  researches  into  the  figure  of  the  earth,  and  the 
comparative  length  of  the  pendulum  vibrating  seconds  in 
various  latitudes,  from  the  equator  to  the  pole.  These 
researches  have  resulted  in  the  composition  and  publica- 
tion of  several  works  highly  interesting  to  the  cause  of 
science.  The  experiments  are  yet  in  the  process  of  per- 
formance. Some  of  them  have  recently  been  made  on 
our  own  shores,  within  the  walls  of  one  of  our  own  col- 
leges, and  partly  by  one  of  our  own  fellow-citizens.  It 
would  be  honorable  to  our  country  if  the  sequel  of  the 
same  experiments  should  be  countenanced  by  the  patron- 
age of  our  government,  as  they  have  hitherto  been  by 
those  of  France  and  Great  Britain. 

Connected  with  the  establishment  of  a  university,  or 
separate  from  it,  might  be  undertaken  the  erection  of  an 
astronomical  observatory,  with  provision  for  the  support 


118  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  an  astronomer,  to  be  in  constant  attendance  of  ob- 
servation upon  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens ;  and  for 
the  periodical  publication  of  his  observations.  It  is  with 
no  feeling  of  pride,  as  an  American,  that  the  remark  may 
be  made,  that,  on  the  comparatively  small  territorial  surface 
of  Europe,  there  are  existing  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  of  these  light-houses  of  the  skies  ;  while  through- 
out the  whole  American  hemisphere  there  is  not  one. 
If  we  reflect  a  moment  upon  the  discoveries  which,  in 
the  last  four  centuries,  have  been  made  in  the  physical 
constitution  of  the  universe,  by  the  means  of  these  build- 
ings, and  of  observers  stationed  in  them,  shull  we  doubt 
of  their  usefulness  to  every  nation  ?  And  while  scarcely 
a  year  passes  over  our  heads  without  bringing  some  new 
astronomical  discovery  to  light,  which  we  must  fain  re- 
ceive at  second  hand  from  Europe,  are  we  not  cutting 
ourselves  off  from  the  means  of  returning  light  for  light, 
while  we  have  neither  observatory  nor  observer  upon 
our  half  of  the  globe,  and  the  earth  revolves  in  perpetual 
darkness  to  our  unsearching  eyes  ? 

When,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1791,  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  announced  to  Congress  the  re- 
sult of  the  first  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Union,  he  informed  them  that  the  returns  gave  the  plea- 
sing assurance  that  the  population  of  the  United  States 
bordered  on  four  millions  of  persons.  At  the  distance 
of  thirty  years  from  that  time,  the  last  enumeration,  five 
years  since  completed,  presented  a  population  bordering 
on  ten  millions.  Perhaps  of  all  the  evidences  of  a  pros- 
perous and  happy  condition  of  human  society,  the  rapid- 
ity of  the  increase  of  population  is  the  most  unequivo- 
cal. But  the  demonstration  of  our  prosperity  rests  not 
alone  upon  this  indication.  Our  commerce,  our  wealth, 
and  the  extent  of  our  territories  have  increased  in  corre- 
sponding proportions;  and  the  number  of  independent 
communities,  associated  in  our  federal  Union,  has,  since 
that  time,  nearly  doubled.  The  legislative  representation 
of  the  states  and  people,  in  the  two  houses  of  Congress, 
has  grown  with  the  growth  of  their  constituent  bodies. 
The  House,  which  then  consisted  of  sixty-five  members, 
now  numbers  upwards  of  two  hundred.  The  Senate, 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.         119 

which  consisted  of  twenty-six  members,  has  now  forty- 
eight.  But  the  executive,  and  still  more  the  judiciary 
departments,  are  yet  in  a  great  measure  confined  to  their 
primitive  organization,  and  are  now  not  adequate  to  the 
urgent  wants  of  a  still  growing  community. 

The  naval  armaments,  which  at  an  early  period  forced 
themselves  upon  the  necessities  of  the  Union,  soon  led 
to  the  establishment  of  a  department  of  the  navy.  But 
the  departments  of  foreign  affairs  and  of  the  interior, 
which,  early  after  the  formation  of  the  government,  had 
been  united  in  one,  continue  so  united  to  this  time,  to 
the  unquestionable  detriment  of  the  public  service.  The 
multiplication  of  our  relations  with  the  nations  and  go- 
vernments of  the  old  world,  has  kept  pace  with  that  of 
our  population  and  commerce,  while,  within  the  last  ten 
years,  a  new  family  of  nations,  in  our  own  hemisphere, 
has  arisen  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  with  whom 
our  intercourse,  commercial  and  political,  would,  of  it- 
self, furnish  occupation  to  an  active  and  industrious  de- 
partment. The  constitution  of  the  judiciary,  experiment- 
al and  imperfect  as  it  was,  even  in  the  infancy  of  our 
existing  government,  is  yet  more  inadequate  to  the  admin- 
istration of  national  justice  at  our  present  maturity.  Nine 
years  have  elapsed  since  a  predecessor  in  this  office,  now 
not  the  last,  the  citizen  who  perhaps  of  all  others  through- 
out the  Union,  contributed  most  to  the  formation  and 
establishment  of  our  constitution,  in  his  valedictory  ad- 
dress to  Congress,  immediately  preceding  his  retirement 
from  public  life,  urgently  recommended  the  revision  of 
the  judiciary,  and  the  establishment  of  an  additional  exe- 
cutive department.  The  exigencies  of  the  public  service 
and  its  unavoidable  deficiencies,  as  now  in  exercise,  have 
added  yearly  cumulative  weight  to  the  considerations  pre- 
sented by  him  as  persuasive  to  the  measure ;  and  in  re- 
commending it  to  your  deliberations,  I  am  happy  to  have 
the  influence  of  his  high  authority  in  aid  of  the  undoubt- 
ing  convictions  of  my  own  experience. 

The  laws  relating  to  the  administration  of  the  Patent 
Office  are  deserving  of  much  consideration,  and  perhaps 
susceptible  of  some  improvement.  The  grant  of  power 
to  regulate  the  action  of  Congress  on  this  subject,  has 


120  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

specified  both  the  end  to  be  obtained  and  the  means  by 
which  it  is  to  be  effected,  "  to  promote  the  progress  of 
science  and  the  useful  arts,  by  securing,  for  limited  times, 
to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their  re- 
spective writings  and  discoveries."  If  an  honest  pride 
might  be  indulged  in  the  reflection,  that  on  the  records 
of  that  office  are  already  found  inventions,  the  usefulness 
of  which  has  scarcely  been  transcended  in  the  annals  of 
human  ingenuity,  would  not  its  exultation  be  allayed  by 
the  inquiry,  whether  the  laws  have  effectively  insured  to 
the  inventors  the  reward  destined  to  them  by  the  consti- 
tution— even  a  limited  term  of  exclusive  right  to  their 
discoveries  ? 

On  the  24th  of  December,  1799,  it  was  resolved  by 
Congress,  that  a  marble  monument  should  be  erected  by 
the  United  States,  in  the  capitol,  at  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton; that  the  family  of  General  Washington  should  be 
requested  to  permit  his  body  to  be  deposited  under  it ;  and 
that  the  monument  be  so  designed  as  to  commemorate 
the  great  events  of  his  military  and  political  life.  In  re- 
minding Congress  of  this  resolution,  and  that  the  monu- 
ment contemplated  by  it  remains  yet  without  execution,  I 
shall  indulge  only  the  remarks,  that  the  works  at  the  cap- 
itol are  approaching  to  completion ;  that  the  consent  of 
the  family,  desired  by  the  resolution,  was  requested  and 
obtained  ;  that  a  monument  has  been  recently  erected  in 
this  city,  over  the  remains  of  another  distinguished  patriot 
of  the  revolution ;  and  that  a  spot  has  been  reserved 
within  the  walls  where  you  are  deliberating  for  the  bene- 
fit of  this  and  future  ages,  in  which  the  mortal  remains 
may  be  deposited  of  him  whose  spirit  hovers  over  you, 
and  listens  with  delight  to  every  act  of  the  representatives 
of  his  nation  which  can  tend  to  exalt  and  adorn  his  and 
their  country. 

The  constitution  under  which  you  are  assembled,  is  a 
charter  of  limited  powers.  After  full  and  solemn  delibe- 
ration upon  all  or  any  of  the  objects  which,  urged  by  an 
irresistible  sense  of  my  own  duty,  I  have  recommended  to 
your  attention,  should  you  come  to  the  conclusion,  that, 
however  desirable  in  themselves,  the  enactment  of  laws 
for  effecting  them  would  transcend  the  powers  committed 


3.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          121 

to  you  by  that  venerable  instrument  which  we  are  all 
bound  to  support ;  let  no  consideration  induce  you  to  as- 
sume the  exercise  of  powers  not  granted  to  you  by  the 
people.  But  if  the  power  to  exercise  exclusive  legisla- 
tion, in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia; if  the  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts, 
and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common 
defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States  ;  if  the 
power  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and 
among  the  several  states,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes ;  to 
fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures ;  to  establish 
post-offices  and  post-roads  ;  to  declare  war  ;  to  raise  and 
support  armies ;  to  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  ;  to  dis- 
pose of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  re- 
specting the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the 
United  States ;  and  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  ne- 
cessary and  proper  for  carrying  these  powers  into  execu- 
tion :  if  these  powers,  and  others  enumerated  in  the  con- 
stitution, may  be  effectually  brought  into  action  by  laws 
promoting  the  improvement  of  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures,  the  cultivation  and  encouragement  of 
the  mechanic  and  of  the  elegant  arts,  the  advancement 
of  literature,  and  the  progress  of  the  sciences,  orna- 
mental and  profound  ;  to  refrain  from  exercising  them 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people  themselves,  would  be  to  hide 
in  the  earth  the  talent  committed  to  our  charge — would 
be  treachery  to  the  most  sacred  of  trusts. 

The  spirit  of  improvement  is  abroad  upon  the  earth. 
It  stimulates  the  hearts  and  sharpens  the  faculties,  not  of 
our  fellow-citizens  alone,  but  of  the  nations  of  Europe, 
and  of  their  rulers.  While  dwelling  with  pleasing  satis- 
faction upon  the  superior  excellence  of  our  political  in- 
stitutions, let  us  not  be  unmindful  that  liberty  is  power ; 
that  the  nation  blessed  with  the  largest  portion  of  liberty, 
must,  in  proportion  to  its  numbers,  be  the  most  power- 
ful nation  upon  earth  ;  and  that  the  tenure  of  power  by 
man  is,  in  the  moral  purposes  of  his  Creator,  upon  con- 
dition that  it  shall  be  exercised  to  ends  of  beneficence,  to 
improve  the  condition  of  himself  and  his  fellow-men. 
While  foreign  nations,  less  blessed  with  that  freedom 
which  is  power  than  ourselves,  are  advancing  with  gigan- 
11 


122  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tic  strides  in  the  career  of  public  improvement ;  were  we 
to  slumber  in  indolence,  or  fold  up  our  arms  and  proclaim 
to  the  world  that  we  are  palsied  by  the  will  of  our  consti- 
tuents, would  it  not  be  to  cast  away  the  bounties  of  Pro 
vidence,  and  doom  ourselves  to  perpetual  inferiority  ?  In 
the  course  of  the  year  now  drawing  to  its  close,  we  have 
beheld,  under  the  auspices  and  expense  of  one  state  in 
our  Union,  a  new  university  unfolding  its  portals  to  the 
sons  of  science,  and  holding  up  the  torch  of  human  im- 
provement to  eyes  that  seek  the  light.  We  have  seen 
under  the  persevering  and  enlightened  enterprise  of 
another  state,  the  waters  of  our  western  lakes  mingle 
with  those  of  the  ocean.  If  undertakings  like  these 
have  been  accomplished  in  the  compass  of  a  few  years, 
by  the  authority  of  single  members  of  our  confede- 
ration, can  we,  the  representative  authorities  of  the 
whole  Union,  fall  behind  our  fellow-servants  in  the  exer 
cise  of  the  trust  committed  to  us  for  the  benefit  of  our 
common  sovereign,  by  the  accomplishment  of  works  im- 
portant to  the  whole,  and  to  which  neither  the  authority 
nor  the  resources  of  any  one  state  can  be  adequate  ? 

Finally,  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  await,  with  cheering 
hope  and  faithful  co-operation,  the  result  of  your  deli- 
berations ;  assured  that,  without  encroaching  upon  the 
powers  reserved  to  the  authorities  of  the  respective  states, 
or  to  the  people,  you  will,  with  a  due  sense  of  your  obli- 
gations to  your  country,  and  of  the  high  responsibilities 
weighing  upon  yourselves,  give  efficacy  to  the  means 
committed  to  you  for  the  common  good.  And  may  He 
who  searches  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  men,  prosper 
your  exertions  to  secure  the  blessings  of  peace  and  pro- 
mote the  highest  welfare  of  our  country. 


JACKSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  123 

JACKSON'S    INAUGURAL   ADDRESS, 

MARCH    4,    1829. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

About  to  undertake  the  arduous  duties  that  I  have  been 
appointed  to  perform,  by  the  choice  of  a  free  people,  I 
avail  myself  of  this  customary  and  solemn  occasion  to  ex- 
press the  gratitude  which  their  confidence  inspires,  and 
to  acknowledge  the  accountability  which  my  situation  en- 
joins. While  the  magnitude  of  their  interests  convinces 
me  that  no  thanks  can  be  adequate  to  the  honor  they 
have  conferred,  it  admonishes  me  that  the  best  return  I 
can  make,  is  the  zealous  dedication  of  my  humble  abili- 
ties to  their  service  and  their  good. 

As  the  instrument  of  the  federal  constitution,  it  will 
devolve  upon  me,  for  a  stated  period,  to  execute  the  laws 
of  the  United  States ;  to  superintend  their  foreign  and 
confederate  relations  ;  to  manage  their  revenue  ;  to  com- 
mand their  forces;  and,  by  communications  to  the  legis- 
lature, to  watch  over  and  to  promote  their  interests  gene- 
rally. And  the  principles  of  action  by  which  I  shall 
endeavor  to  accomplish  this  circle  of  duties,  it  is  now 
proper  for  me  briefly  to  explain. 

In  administering  the  laws  of  Congress,  I  shall  keep 
steadily  in  view  the  limitations  as  well  as  the  extent  of 
the  executive  power,  trusting  thereby  to  discharge  the 
functions  of  my  office,  without  transcending  its  authority. 
With  foreign  nations  it  will  be  my  study  to  preserve  peace, 
and  to  cultivate  friendship  on  fair  and  honorable  terms ; 
and  in  the  adjustment  of  any  differences  that  may  exist 
or  arise,  to  exhibit  the  forbearance  becoming  a  powerful 
nation,  rather  than  the  sensibility  belonging  to  a  gallant 
people. 

In  such  measures  as  I  may  be  called  on  to  pursue,  in 
regard  to  the  rights  of  the  separate  states,  I  .hope  to  be 
animated  by  a  proper  respect  for  those  sovereign  members 
of  our  Union  ;  taking  care  not  to  confound  the  powers 
they  have  reserved  to  themselves  with  those  they  have 
granted  to  the  confederacy. 


124  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN'. 

The  management  of  the  public  revenue — that  search- 
ing operation  of  all  governments — is  among  the  most 
delicate  and  important  trusts  in  ours ;  and  it  will,  of 
course,  demand  no  inconsiderable  share  of  my  official 
solicitude.  Under  every  aspect  in  which  it  can  be  con- 
sidered, it  would  appear  that  advantage  must  result  from 
the  observance  of  a  strict  and  faithful  economy.  This  I 
shall  aim  at  the  more  anxiously,  both  because  it  will  facili- 
tate the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt,  the  unne- 
cessary duration  of  which  is  incompatible  with  real  inde- 
pendence, and  because  it  will  counteract  that  tendency 
to  public  and  private  profligacy  which  a  profuse  expendi- 
ture of  money  by  the  government  is  but  too  apt  to  en- 
gender. Powerful  auxiliaries  to  the  attainment  of  this 
desirable  end,  are  to  be  found  in  the  regulations  provided 
by  the  wisdom  of  Congress  for  the  specific  appropriation 
of  public  money,  and  the  prompt  accountability  of  pub- 
lic officers.  With  regard  to  a  proper  selection  of  the 
subjects  of  impost,  with  a  view  to  revenue,  it  would  seem 
to  me  that  the  spirit  of  equity,  caution,  and  compromise, 
in  which  the  constitution  was  formed,  requires  that  the 
great  interests  of  agriculture,  commerce  and  manufac- 
tures, should  be  equally  favored,  and  that  perhaps  the  only 
exception  to  this  rule  should  consist  in  the  peculiar  en- 
couragement of  any  products  of  either  of  them  that  may 
be  found  essential  to  our  national  independence. 

Internal  improvement  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge, 
so  far  as  they  can  be  promoted  by  the  constitutional  acts 
of  the  federal  government,  are  of  high  importance. 

Considering  standing  armies  as  dangerous  to  free  go- 
vernments in  time  of  peace,  I  shall  not  seek  to  enlarge 
our  present  establishment,  nor  to  disregard  that  salutary 
lesson  of  political  experience  which  teaches  that  the  mil- 
itary should  be  held  subordinate  to  the  civil  power.  The 
gradual  increase  of  our  navy,  whose  flag  has  displayed, 
in  distant  climes,  our  skill  in  navigation,  and  our  fame  in 
arms ;  the  preservation  of  our  forts,  arsenals,  and  dock- 
yards; and  the  introduction  of  progressive  improvements 
in  the  discipline  and  science  of  both  branches  of  our 
military  service,  are  so  plainly  prescribed  by  prudence 
that  I  should  be  excused  for  omitting  their  mention,  soon- 


JACKSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  125 

er  than  enlarging  on  their  importance.  But  the  bulwark 
of  our  defence  is  the  national  militia,  which,  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  our  intelligence  and  population,  must  render 
us  invincible.  As  long  as  our  government  is  administered 
for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  is  regulated  by  their  will  ; 
as  long  as  it  secures  to  us  the  right  of  person  and  pro- 
perty, liberty  of  conscience,  and  of  the  press,  it  will  be 
worth  defending ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  worth  defending,  a 
patriotic  militia  will  cover  it  with  an  impenetrable  segis. 
Partial  injuries  and  occasional  mortifications  we  may  be 
subjected  to;  but  a  million  of  armed  freemen,  possessed 
of  the  means  of  war,  can  never  be  conquered  by  a  for- 
eign foe.  To  any  just  system,  therefore,  calculated  to 
strengthen  this  natural  safeguard  of  the  country,  I  shall 
cheerfully  lend  all  the  aid  in  my  power. 

It  will  be  my  sincere  and  constant  desire  to  observe 
towards  the  Indian  tribes  within  our  limits,  a  just  and 
liberal  policy ;  and  to  give  that  humane  and  considerate 
attention  to  their  rights  and  their  wants,  which  are  con- 
sistent with  the  habits  of  our  government  and  the  feelings 
of  our  people. 

The  recent  demonstration  of  public  sentiment  inscribes 
on  the  list  of  executive  duties,  in  characters  too  legible 
to  be  overlooked,  the  task  of  reform ;  which  will  require, 
particularly  the  correction  of  those  abuses  that  have 
brought  the  patronage  of  the  federal  government  into 
conflict  with  the  freedom  of  elections,  and  the  counter- 
action of  those  causes  which  have  disturbed  the  rightful 
course  of  appointment,  and  have  placed  or  continued 
power  in  unfaithful  or  incompetent  hands. 

In  the  performance  of  a  task  thus  generally  delineated, 
I  shall  endeavor  to  select  men  whose  diligence  and  talents 
will  insure,  in  their  respective  stations,  able  and  faithful 
co-operation — depending  for  the  advancement  of  the  pub- 
lic service,  more  on  the  integrity  and  zeal  of  the  public 
officers,  than  on  their  numbers. 

A  diffidence,  perhaps  too  just,  in  my  own  qualifications, 
will  teach  me  to  look  with  reverence  to  the  examples  of 
public  virtue  left  by  my  illustrious  predecessors,  and  with 
veneration  to  the  lights  that  flow  from  the  mind  that  found- 
ed and  the  mind  that  reformed  our  system.  The  same 
11* 


126  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

diffidence  induces  me  to  hope  for*  instruction  and  aid 
from  the  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government,  and 
for  the  indulgence  and  support  of  my  fellow-citizens  gene- 
rally. And  a  firm  reliance  on  the  goodness  of  that  Pow- 
er whose  providence  mercifully  protected  our  national 
infancy,  and  has  since  upheld  our  liberties  in  various 
vicissitudes,  encourages  me  to  offer  up  my  ardent  suppli- 
cations that  He  will  continue  to  make  our  beloved  coun- 
try the  object  of  his  divine  care  and  gracious  benediction. 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER    8,    1829. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senatr, 

and  lloute  of  Representatives  : 

It  affords  me  pleasure  to  tender  my  friendly  greetings 
to  you  on  the  occasion  of  your  assembling  at  the  seat  of 
government,  to  enter  upon  the  important  dujties  to  which 

¥>u  have  been  called  by  the  voice  of  our  countrymen, 
he  task  devolves  on  me,  under  a  provision  of  the  consti- 
tution, to  present  to  you,  as  the  federal  legislature  of 
twenty-four  sovereign  states,  and  twelve  millions  of  happy 
people,  a  view  of  our  affairs ;  and  to  propose  such  mea- 
sures as,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  functions,  have 
suggested  themselves  as  necessary  to  promote  the  objects 
of  our  Union. 

In  communicating  with  you  for  the  first  time,  it  is  to 
me  a  source  of  unfeigned  satisfaction,  calling  for  mutual 
gratulation  and  devout  thanks  to  a  benign  Providence, 
that  we  are  at  peace  with  all  mankind  ;  and  that  our 
country  exhibits  the  most  cheering  evidence  of  general 
welfare  and  progressive  improvement.  Turning  our  eyes 
to  other  nations,  our  great  desire  is  to  see  our  brethren 
of  the  human  race  secured  in  the  blessings  enjoyed  by 
ourselves,  and  advancing  in  knowledge,  in  freedom,  and 
in  social  happiness. 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  127 

Our  foreign  relations,  although  in  their  general  cha- 
racter pacific  and  friendly,  present  subjects  of  difference 
between  us  and  other  powers  of  deep  interest,  as  well  to 
the  country  at  large  as  to  many  of  our  citizens.  To  ef- 
fect an  adjustment  of  these  shall  continue  to  be  the  ob- 
ject of  my  earnest  endeavors ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
difficulties  of  the  task,  I  do  not  allow  myself  to.  appre- 
hend unfavorable  results.  Blessed  as  our  country  is.  with 
every  thing  which  constitutes  national  strength,  she  is 
fully  adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  all  her  interests.  In 
discharging  the  responsible  trust  confided  to  the  executive 
in  this  respect,  it  is  my  settled  purpose  to  ask  nothing 
that  is  not  clearly  right,  and  to  submit  to  nothing  that  is 
wrong ;  and  I  flatter  myself,  that,  supported  by  the  other 
branches  of  the  government,  and  by  the  intelligence  and 
patriotism  of  the  people,  we  shall  be  able,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Providence,  to  cause  all  our  just  rights  to  be 
respected. 

Of  the  unsettled  matters  between  the  United  States 
and  other  powers,  the  most  prominent  are  those  which 
have  for  years  been  the  subject  of  negotiation  with  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Spain.  The  late  periods  at  which 
our  ministers  to  those  governments  left  the  United  States, 
render  it  impossible,  at  this  early  day,  to  inform  you  of 
what  has  been  done  on  the  subjects  with  which  they  have 
been  respectively  charged.  Relying  upon  the  justice  of 
our  views  in  relation  to  the  points  committed  to  negotia- 
tion, and  the  reciprocal  good  feeling  which  characterizes 
our  intercourse  with  those  nations,  we  have  the  best  rea- 
son to  hope  for  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  existing  dif- 
ferences. 

With  Great  Britain,  alike  distinguished  in  peace  and 
war,  we  may  look  forward  to  years  of  peaceful,  honora- 
ble, and  elevated  competition.  Every  thing  in  the  condi- 
tion and  history  of  the  two  nations  is  calculated  to  inspire 
sentiments  of  mutual  respect,  and  to  carry  conviction  to 
the  minds  of  both,  that  it  is  their  policy  to  preserve  the 
most  cordial  relations.  Such  are  my  own  views ;  and  it 
is  not  to  be  doubted  that  such  are  also  the  prevailing  sen- 
timents of  our  constituents.  Although  neither  time  nor 
opportunity  has  been  afforded  for  a  full  development  of' 


128  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  policy  which  the  present  cabinet  of  Great  Britain  de- 
signs to  pursue  towards  this  country,  I  indulge  the  hope 
that  it  will  be  of  a  just  and  pacific  character  ;  and  if 
this  anticipation  be  realized,  we  may  look  with  confi- 
dence to  a  speedy  and  acceptable  adjustment  of  our  af 
fairs. 

Under  the  convention  for  regulating  the  reference  to 
arbitration  the  disputed  points  of  boundary  under  the 
fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  the  proceedings  have 
hitherto  been  conducted  in  the  spirit  of  candor  and  libe- 
rality which  ought  ever  to  characterize  the  acts  of  sove- 
reign states,  seeking  to  adjust,  by  the  most  unexception- 
able means,  important  and  delicate  subjects  of  contention. 
The  first  statements  of  the  parties  have  been  exchanged, 
and  the  final  replication  on  our  part  is  in  a  course  of  pre- 
paration. This  subject  has  received  the  attention  de- 
manded by  its  great  and  peculiar  importance  to  a  patriotic 
member  of  this  confederacy.  The  exposition  of  our 
rights,  already  made,  is  such  as  from  the  high  reputation 
of  the  commissioners  by  whom  it  has  been  prepared,  we 
had  a  right  to  expect.  Our  interests  at  the  court  of  the 
sovereign  who  has  evinced  his  friendly  disposition,  by 
assuming  the  delicate  task  of  arbitration,  have  been  com- 
mitted to  a  citizen  of  the  state  of  Maine,  whose  charac- 
ter, talents,  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  subject, 
eminently  qualify  him  for  so  responsible  a  trust.  With 
full  confidence  in  the  justice  of  our  cause,  and  in  the 
probity,  intelligence,  and  uncompromising  independence 
ot  the  illustrious  arbitrator,  we  can  have  nothing  to  appre- 
hend from  the  result. 

From  France,  our  ancient  ally,  we  have  a  right  to  ex- 
pect that  justice  which  becomes  the  sovereign  of  a  pow- 
erful, intelligent,  and  magnanimous  people.  The  benefi- 
cial effects  produced  by  the  commercial  convention  of 
1822,  limited  as  are  its  provisions,  are  too  obvious  not  to 
make  a  salutary  impression  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  charged  with  the  administration  of  her  government. 
Should  this  result  induce  a  disposition  to  embrace  to  their 
full  extent  the  wholesome  principles  which  constitute  our 
commercial  policy,  our  minister  to  that  court  will  hr> 
found  instructed  to  cherish  such  a  disposition,  and  to  ai  1 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  129 

in  conducting  it  to  useful  practical  conclusions.  The 
claims  of  our  citizens  for  depredations  upon  their  pro- 
perty, long  since  committed  under  the  authority,  and  in 
many  instances,  by  the  express  direction,  of  the  then  ex- 
isting government  of  France,  remained  unsatisfied  ;  and 
must,  therefore,  continue  to  furnish  a  subject  of  unplea- 
sant discussion,  and  possible  collision,  between  the  two 
governments.  I  cherish,  however,  a  lively  hope,  founded 
as  well  on  the  validity  of  those  claims,  and  the  established 
policy  of  all  enlightened  governments,  as  on  the  known 
integrity  of  the  French  monarch,  that  the  injurious  de- 
lays of  the  past  will  find  redress  in  the  equity  of  the 
future.  Our  minister  has  been  instructed  to  press  these 
demands  on  the  French  government  with  all  the  earnest- 
ness which  is  called  for  by  their  importance  and  irrefuta- 
ble justice ;  and  in  a  spirit  that  will  evince  the  respect 
which  is  due  to  the  feelings  of  those  from  whom  the  satis- 
faction is  required. 

Our  minister  recently  appointed  to  Spain  has  been 
authorized  to  assist  in  removing  evils  alike  injurious  to 
both  countries,  either  by  concluding  a  commercial  con- 
vention upon  liberal  and  reciprocal  terms  ;  or  by  urging 
the  acceptance,  in  their  full  extent,  of  the  mutually  bene- 
ficial provisions  of  our  navigation  act.  He  has  also  been 
instructed  to  make  a  further  appeal  to  the  justice  of  Spain, 
in  behalf  of  our  citizens,  for  indemnity  for  spoliations 
upon  our  commerce,  committed  under  her  authority — an 
appeal  which  the  pacific  and  liberal  course  observed  on 
our  part,  and  a  due  confidence  in  the  honor  of  that  go- 
vernment authorized  us  to  expect  will  not  be  made  in 
vain. 

With  other  European  powers,  our  intercourse  is  on  the 
most  friendly  footing.  In  Russia,  placed  by  her  territo- 
rial limits,  extensive  population,  and  great  power,  high  in 
tb»  rank  of  nations,  the  United  States  have  always  found 
a  steadfast  friend.  Although  her  recent  invasions  of  Tur- 
key awakened  a  lively  sympathy  for  those  who  were  ex- 
posed to  the  desolations  of  war,  we  cannot  but  anticipate 
that  the  result  will  prove  favorable  to  the  cause  of  civili- 
zation, and  to  the  progress  of  human  happiness.  The 
treaty  of  peace  between  these  powers  having  been  ratified, 


^    W 


^^r 

130  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

\ve  cannot  be  insensible  to  tbe  great  benefit  to  be  derived 
by  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  from  unlocking 
the  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea — a  free  passage  into 
which  is  secured  to  all  merchant  vessels  bound  to  ports 
of  Russia  under  a  flag  at  peace  with  the  Porte.  This 
advantage,  enjoyed  upon  conditions,  by  most  of  the  pow- 
ers of  Europe,  has  hitherto  been  withheld  from  us.  During 
the  past  summer,  an  antecedent  but  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  obtain  it,  was  renewed  under  circumstances  which  pro- 
mised the  most  favorable  results.  Although  these  results 
have  fortunately  been  thus  in  part  attained,  further  facili- 
ties to  the  enjoyment  of  this  new  field  for  the  enterprise 
of  our  citizens  are,  in  my  opinion,  sufficiently  desirable 
to  insure  to  them  our  most  zealous  attention. 

Our  trade  with  Austria,  although  of  secondary  im- 
portance, has  been  gradually  increasing ;  and  is  now  so 
extended  as  to  deserve  the  fostering  care  of  the  govern- 
ment. A  negotiation,  commenced  and  nearly  completed 
with  that  power,  by  the  late  administration,  has  been  con- 
summated by  a  treaty  of  amity,  navigation  and  commerce, 
which  will  be  laid  before  the  Senate. 

During  the  recess  of  Congress,  our  diplomatic  relations 
with  Portugal  have  been  resumed.  The  peculiar  state 
of  things  in  that  country  caused  a  suspension  of  the 
recognition  of  the  representative  who  presented  himself, 
until  an  opportunity  was  had  to  obtain  from  our  official 
organ  there,  information  regarding  the  actual,  and,  as  far 
as  practicable,  prospective  condition  of  the  authority  by 
which  the  representative  in  question  was  appointed.  This 
information  being  received,  the  application  of  the  esta- 
blished rule  of  our  government,  in  like  cases,  was  no 
longer  withheld. 

Considerable  advances  have  been  made  during  the 
present  year  in  the  adjustment  of  claims  of  our  citizens 
upon  Denmark  for  spoliations  ;  but  all  that  we  have  a  right 
to  demand  from  that  government  in  their  behalf  has  not 
yet  been  conceded.  From  the  liberal  footing,  however, 
upon  which  this  subject  has,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
claimants,  been  placed  by  the  government,  together  with 
the  uniformly  just  and  friendly  disposition  which  has  been 
evinced  by  his  Danish  majesty,  there  is  a  reasonable 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  131 

ground  to  hope  that  this  single  subject  of  difference  will 
speedily  be  removed. 

Our  relations  with  the  Barbary  powers  continue,  as 
they  have  long  been,  of  the  most  favorable  character. 
The  policy  of  keeping  an  adequate  force  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean, as  security  for  the  continuance  of  this  tranquillity, 
will  be  persevered  in  ;  as  well  as  a  similar  one  for  the 
protection  of  our  commerce  and  fisheries  in  the  Pacific. 

The  southern  republics  of  our  hemisphere  have  not  yet 
realized  all  the  advantages  for  which  they  have  been  so 
long  struggling.  We  trust,  however,  that  the  day  is  not 
distant  when  the  restoration  of  peace  and  internal  quiet, 
under  permanent  systems  of  government,  securing  the 
liberty,  and  promoting  the  happiness  of  the  citizens,  will 
crown,  with  complete  success,  their  long  and  arduous 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  self-government ;  and  enable  us  to 
salute  them  as  friendly  rivals  in  all  that  is  truly  great  and 
glorious. 

The  recent  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  the  effect  thereby 
produced  upon  her  domestic  policy,  must  have  a  control- 
ling influence  upon  the  great  question  of  South  Ameri- 
can emancipation.  We  have  seen  the  fell  spirit  of  civil 
dissention  rebuked,  and,  perhaps,  forever  stifled  in  that 
republic  by  the  love  of  independence.  If  it  be  true,  as 
appearances  strongly  indicate,  that  the  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence is  the  master  spirit ;  and  if  a  corresponding  senti- 
ment prevails  in  the  other  states,  this  devotion  to  liberty 
cannot  be  without  a  proper  effect  upon  the  counsels  of 
the  mother  country.  The  adoption  by  Spain  of  a  pacific 
policy  towards  her  former  colonies — an  event  consoling 
to  humanity,  and  a  blessing  to  the  world,  in  which  she 
herself  cannot  fail  largely  to  participate — may  be  most 
reasonably  expected. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  the  South  American 
governments  generally,  are  in  a  train  of  settlement,  while 
the  principal  part  of  those  upon  Brazil  have  been  adjusted ; 
and  a  decree  in  council,  ordering  bonds  to  be  issued  by 
the  minister  of  the  treasury  for  their  amount,  has  received 
the  sanction  of  his  imperial  majesty.  This  event,  toge- 
ther with  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the  treaty 
negotiated  and  concluded  in  1828,  happily  terminates  all 
serious  causes  of  difference  with  that  power. 


132  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Measures  have  been  taken  to  place  our  commercial  re- 
lations with  Peru  upon  a  better  footing  than  that  upon 
which  they  have  hitherto  rested ;  and  if  met  by  a  proper 
disposition  on  the  part  of  that  government,  important  bene- 
fits may  be  secured  to  both  countries. 

Deeply  interested  as  we  are  in  the  prosperity  of  our 
sister  republics;  and  more  particularly  in  that  of  our 
immediate  neighbor,  it  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me 
were  I  permitted  to  say,  that  the  treatment  which  we  have 
received  at  her  hands  has  been  as  universally  friendly,  as 
the  early  and  constant  solicitude  manifested  by  the  United 
States  for  her  success,  gave  us  a  right  to  expect.  But  it 
becomes  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  prejudices  long  in- 
dulged by  a  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  against 
the  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of 
the  United  States,  have  had  an  unfortunate  influence  upon 
the  affairs  of  the  two  countries  ;  and  have  diminished  that 
usefulness  to  his  own  which  was  justly  to  be  expected 
from  his  talents  and  zeal.  To  this  cause  in  a  great  de- 
gree is  to  be  imputed  the  failure  of  several  measures 
equally  interesting  to  both  parties  ;  but  particularly  that 
of  the  Mexican  government  to  ratify  a  treaty  negotiated 
and  concluded  in  its  own  capital,  and  under  its  own  eye. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  appeared  expedient  to  give 
to  Mr.  Poinsett  the  option  either  to  return  or  not,  as  in 
his  judgment  the  interest  of  his  country  might  require, 
and  instructions  to  that  end  were  prepared  ;  but  before 
they  could  be  despatched,  a  communication  was  received 
from  the  government  of  Mexico,  through  its  charge  d'af- 
faires here,  requesting  the  recall  of  our  minister.  This 
was  promptly  complied  with ;  and  a  representative  of  a 
rank  corresponding  with  that  of  the  Mexican  diplomatic 
agent  near  this  government  was  appointed.  Our  conduct 
towards  that  republic  has  been  uniformly  of  the  most 
friendly  character ;  and  having  thus  removed  the  only 
alleged  obstacle  to  harmonious  intercourse,  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  an  advantageous  change  will  occur  in  our  affairs. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Poinsett,  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  my 
immediate  compliance  with  the  application  for  his  recall, 
and  the  appointment  of  a  successsor,  are  not  to  be  ascri- 
bed to  any  evidence  that  the  imputation  of  an  improper 
interference  by  him,  in  the  local  politics  of  Mexico,  was 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  133 

well  founded  ;  nor  to  a  want  of  confidence  in  his  talents 
or  integrity  ;  and  to  add,  that  the  truth  of  that  charge  has 
never  been  affirmed  by  the  federal  government  of  Mexico, 
in  their  communications  with  this. 

I  consider  it  one  of  the  most  urgent  of  my  duties  to 
bring  to  your  attention  the  propriety  of  amending  that 
part  of  our  constitution  which  relates  to  the  election  of 
President  and  Vice-President.  Our  system  of  govern- 
ment was,  by  its  framers,  deemed  an  experiment ;  and  they, 
therefore,  consistently  provided  a  mode  of  remedying  its 
defects. 

To  the  people  belongs  the  right  of  electing  their  chief 
magistrate  ;  it  was  never  designed  that  their  choice  should, 
in  any  case,  be  defeated,  either  by  the  intervention  of 
electoral  colleges,  or  by  the  agency  confided,  under  cer- 
tain contingencies,  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Ex- 
perience proves,  that,  in  proportion  as  agents  to  execute 
the  will  of  the  people  are  multiplied,  there  is  danger  of 
their  wishes  being  frustrated.  Some  may  be  unfaithful ; 
all  are  liable  to  err.  So  far,  therefore,  as  the  people  can, 
with  convenience,  speak,  it  is  safer  for  them  to  express 
their  own  will. 

The  number  of  aspirants  to  the  presidency,  and  the 
diversity  of  the  interests  which  may  influence  their  claims, 
leave  little  reason  to  expect  a  choice  in  the  first  instance ; 
and,  in  that  event,  the  election  must  devolve  on  the  House 
of  Representatives,  where,  it  is  obvious,  the  will  of  the 
people  may  not  be  always  ascertained ;  or,  if  ascertained, 
may  not  be  regarded.  l?rorn  the  mode  of  voting  by  states,  * 
the  choice  is  to  be  made  by  twenty-four  votes ;  and  it 
may  often  occur,  that  one  of  those  will  be  controlled  by 
an  individual  representative.  Honors  and  offices  are  at 
the  disposal  of  the  successful  candidate.  Repeated  bal- 
lottings  may  make  it  apparent  that  a  single  individual 
holds  the  cast  in  his  hand.  May  he  not  be  tempted  to 
name  his  reward  1  But  even  without  corruption — sup- 
posing the  probity  of  the  representative  to  be  proof  against 
the  powerful  motives  by  which  it  may  be  assailed — the 
will  of  the  people  is  still  constantly  liable  to  be  misrepre- 
sented. O:is  may  err  from  ignorance  of  the  wishes  of 
his  constituents ;  another,  from  the  conviction  that  it  is 
12 


134  THE    THEU    AMERICAN. 

his  duty  to  be  governed  by  his  own  judgment  of  the  fitness 
of  the  candidates  ;  finally,  although  all  were  inflexibly 
honest — all  accurately  informed  of  the  wishes  of  their 
constituents — yet,  under  the  present  mode  of  election,  a 
minority  may  often  elect  the  President ;  and  when  this 
happens,  it  may  reasonably  be  expected  that  efforts  will 
be  made  on  the  part  of  the  majority  to  rectify  this  injuri- 
ous operation  of  their  institutions.  But  although  no  evil 
of  this  character  should  result  from  such  a  perversion  of 
the  first  principles  of  our  system — that  the  majority  is  to 
govern — it  must  be  very  certain  that  a  President  elected 
by  a  minority  cannot  enjoy  the  confidence  necessary  to 
the  successful  discharge  of  his  duties. 

In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters  of  public  concern,  policy 
requires  that  as  few  impediments  as  possible  should  exist 
to  the  free  operation  of  the  public  will.  Let  us  then 
endeavor  to  so  amend  our  system,  that  the  oflice  of  chief 
magistrate  may  not  be  conferred  upon  any  citizen,  but  in 
pursuance  of  a  fair  expression  of  the  will  of  the  majority. 

I  would  therefore  recommend  such  an  amendment  of 
the  constitution  as  may  remove  all  intermediate  agency 
in  the  election  of  the  President  and  Vice-President.  The 
mode  may  be  so  regulated  as  to  preserve  to  each  state  its 
present  relative  weight  in  the  election  ;  and  a  failure  in 
the  first  attempt  may  be  provided  for,  by  confiding  the 
second  to  a  choice  between  the  two  highest  candidates. 
In  connection  with  such  an  amendment,  it  would  seem 
advisable  to  limit  the  service  of  the  chief  magistrate  to  a 
single  term  of  either  four  or  six  years.  If,  however,  it 
should  not  be  adopted,  it  is  worthy  of  consideration 
whether  a  provision  disqualifying  for  office,  the  represen- 
tatives in  Congress  on  whom  such  an  election  may  have 
devolved,  would  not  be  proper. 

While  members  of  Congress  can  be  constitutionally 
appointed  to  offices  of  trust  and  profit,  it  will  be  the 
practice,  even  under  the  most  conscientious  adherence  to 
duty,  to  select  them  for  such  stations  as  they  are  believed 
to  be  better  qualified  to  fill  than  other  citizens;  but  the 
purity  of  our  government  would  doubtless  be  promoted 
by  their  exclusion  from  all  appointments  in  the  gift  of 
the  President,  in  whose  election  they  may  have  been  offi- 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  135 

, 

dally  concerned.  The  nature  of  the  judicial  office,  and 
the  necessity  of  securing  in  the  cabinet  and  diplomatic 
stations  of  the  highest  rank,  the  best  talents  and  political 
experience,  should,  perhaps,  except  these  from  the  ex- 
clusion. 

There  are  perhaps  few  men  who  can  for  any  great 
length  of  time  enjoy  office  and  power,  without  being  more 
or  less  under  the  influence  of  feelings  unfavorable  to  the 
faithful  discharge  of  their  public  duties.  Their  integrity 
may  be  proof  against  improper  considerations  immedi- 
ately addressed  to  themselves  ;  but  they  are  apt  to  acquire 
a  habit  of  looking  with  indifference  upon  the  public  in- 
terests, and  of  tolerating  conduct  from  which  an  unprac- 
tised man  would  revolt.  Office  is  considered  as  a  species 
of  property ;  and  government  rather  as  a  means  of  pro- 
moting individual  interest,  than  as  an  instrument  created 
solely  for  the  service  of  the  people.  Corruption  in  some, 
and  in  others  a  perversion  of  correct  feelings  and  princi- 
ples, divert  government  from  its  legitimate  ends,  and 
make  it  an  engine  for  the  support  of  the  few  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  many.  The  duties  of  all  public  officers  are,  or 
at  least  admit  of  being  made  so  plain  and  simple  that  men 
of  intelligence  may  readily  qualify  themselves  for  their 
performance ;  and  I  cannot  but  believe  that  more  is  lost 
by  the  long  continuance  of  men  in  office  than  is  generally 
to  be  gained  by  their  experience.  I  submit  therefore  to 
your  consideration  whether  the  efficiency  of  the  govern- 
ment would  not  be  promoted,  and  official  industry  and 
integrity  better  secured  by  a  general  extension  of  the 
law  which  limits  appointments  to  four  years. 

In  a  country  where  offices  are  created  solely  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people,  no  one  man  has  any  more  intrinsic 
right  to  official  station  than  another.  Offices  were  not 
established  to  give  support  to  particular  men  at  the  pub- 
lic expense.  No  individual  wrong  is  therefore  done  by 
removal,  since  neither  appointment  to  nor  continuance  in 
office  is  matter  of  right.  The  incumbent  became  an  offi- 
cer with  a  view  to  the  public  benefits ;  and  when  these 
require  his  removal,  they  are  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  pri- 
vate interests.  It  is  the  people,  and  they  alone,  who  have 
a  right  to  complain,  when  a  bad  officer  is  substituted  for 


136  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

a  good  one.  He  who  is  removed  has  the  same  means  of 
obtaining  a  living  that  are  enjoyed  by  the  millions  who 
never  held  office.  The  proposed  limitation  would  destroy 
the  idea  of  property,  now  so  generally  connected  with 
official  station ;  and  although  individual  distress  may  be 
sometimes  produced,  it  would,  by  promoting  that  rotation 
which  constitutes  a  leading  principle  in  the  republican 
creed,  give  healthful  action  to  the  system. 

No  very  considerable  change  has  occurred  during  the 
recess  of  Congress,  in  the  condition  of  either  our  agri- 
culture, commerce,  or  manufactures.  The  operation  of 
the  tariff  has  not  proved  so  injurious  to  the  two  former, 
or  as  beneficial  to  the  latter,  as  was  anticipated.  Importa- 
tions of  foreign  goods  have  not  been  sensibly  diminished  ; 
while  domestic  competition,  under  an  illusive  excitement, 
has  increased  the  production  much  beyond  the  demand 
for  home  consumption.  The  consequences  have  been, 
low  prices,  temporary  embarrassment,  and  partial  loss. 
That  such  of  our  manufacturing  establishments  as  are 
based  upon  capital,  and  are  prudently  managed,  will  sur- 
vive the  shock,  and  be  ultimately  profitable,  there  is  no 
good  reason  to  doubt. 

To  regulate  its  conduct,  so  as  to  promote  equally  the 
prosperity  of  these  three  cardinal  interests,  is  one  of 
the  most  difficult  tasks  of  government ;  and  it  may  be 
regretted  that  the  complicated  restrictions  which  now 
embarrass  the  intercourse  of  nations,  could  not  by  com- 
mon consent  be  abolished  ;  and  commerce  allowed  to 
flow  in  those  channels  to  which  individual  enterprise, 
always  its  surest  guide,  might  direct  it.  But  we  must 
ever  expect  selfish  legislation  in  other  nations ;  and  are 
therefore  compelled  to  adapt  our  own  to  their  regulations, 
in  the  manner  best  calculated  to  avoid  serious  injury,  and 
to  harmonize  the  conflicting  interests  of  our  agriculture, 
our  commerce,  and  our  manufactures.  Under  these  im- 
pressions, I  invite  your  attention  to  the  existing  tariff, 
believing  that  some  of  its  provisions  require  modification. 

The  general  rule  to  be  applied  in  graduating  the  duties 
upon  the  articles  of  foreign  growth  or  manufacture,  is 
that  which  will  place  our  own  in  fair  competition  with 
those  of  other  countries :  and  the  inducements  to  advance 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  137 

even  a  step  beyond  this  point,  are  controlling  in  regard 
to  those  articles  which  are  of  primary  necessity  in  time 
of  war.  When  we  reflect  upon  the  difficulty  and  delicacy 
of  this  operation,  it  is  important  that  it  should  never  bo 
attempted  but  with  the  utmost  caution.  Frequent  legis- 
lation in  regard  to  any  branch  of  industry,  affecting  its 
value,  and  by  which  its  capital  may  be  transferred  to  new 
channels,  must  always  be  productive  of  hazardous  specu- 
lation and  loss. 

In  deliberating,  therefore,  on  these  interesting  sub- 
jects, local  feelings  and  prejudices  should  be  merged  in 
the  patriotic  determination  to  promote  the  great  interests 
of  the  whole.  All  the  attempts  to  connect  them  with 
the  party  conflicts  of  the  day  are  necessarily  injurious, 
and  should  be  discountenanced.  Our  action  upon  them 
should  be  under  the  control  of  higher  and  purer  motives. 
Legislation,  subjected  to  such  influence,  can  never  be 
just ;  and  will  not  long  retain  the  sanction  of  the  people, 
whose  active  patriotism  is  not  bounded  by  sectional  lim- 
its, nor  insensible  to  that  spirit  of  concession  and  for- 
bearance which  gave  life  to  our  political  compact,  and 
still  sustains  it.  Discarding  all  calculations  of  political 
ascendency,  the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  and  the  west, 
should  unite  in  diminishing  any  burden,  of  which  either 
may  justly  complain. 

The  agricultural  interest  of  our  country  is  so  essen- 
tially connected  with  every  other,  and  so  superior  in  im- 
portance to  them  all,  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  invite 
it  to  your  particular  attention.  It  is  principally  as  ma- 
nufactures and  commerce  tend  to  increase  the  value  of 
agricultural  productions,  and  to  extend  their  application 
to  the  wants  and  comforts  of  society,  that  they  deserve 
the  fostering  care  of  government. 

Looking  forward  to  the  period,  not  far  distant,  when  a 
sinking  fund  will  no  longer  be  required,  the  duties  on 
those  articles  of  importation  which  cannot  come  in  com- 
petition with  our  own  productions,  are  the  first  that 
should  engage  the  attention  of  Congress  in  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  tariff.  Of  these,  tea  and  coffee  are  the  most 
prominent;  they  enter  largely  into  the  consumption  of 
the  country,  and  have  become  articles  of  necessity  to  all 

"' 


138  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

classes.  A  reduction,  therefore,  of  the  existing  duties, 
will  be  felt  as  a  common  benefit;  but,  like  all  other 
legislation  connected  with  commerce,  to  be  efficacious, 
and  not  injurious,  it  should  be  gradual  and  certain. 

The  public  prosperity  is  evinced  in  the  increased  reve- 
nue arising  from  the  sales  of  public  lands;  and  in  the 
steady  maintenance  of  that  produced  by  imposts  and  ton- 
nage, notwithstanding  the  additional  duties  imposed  by 
the  act  of  19th  May,  1828,  and  the  unusual  importations 
in  the  early  part  of  that  year. 

The  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  January,  1829, 
was  £5,972,435  81.  The  receipts  of  the  current  year 
are  estimated  at  824,002,230;  and  the  expenditures  for 
the  same  time  at  $20,164,595.  Leaving  a  balance  in  the 
treasury,  on  the  1st  of  January  next,  of  84,410,070  81. 

There  will  have  been  paid  on  account  of  the  public 
debt  during  the  present  year,  the  sum  of  $12,405,005  80  ; 
reducing  the  whole  debt  of  the  government,  on  the  first 
of  January  next,  to  $48,505,400  50,  including  seven 
millions  of  five  per  cent,  stock  subscribed  to  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  The  payment  on  account  of  the 
public  debt,  made  on  the  first  of  July  last,  was  $8,715,- 
402  87.  It  was  apprehended  that  the  sudden  withdrawal 
of  so  large  a  sum  from  the  banks  in  which  it  was  deposit- 
ed, at  a  time  of  unusual  pressure  in  the  money  market, 
might  cause  much  injury  to  the  interests  dependent  on 
bank  accommodations.  But  this  evil  was  wholly  averted 
by  an  early  anticipation  of  it  at  the  treasury,  aided  by 
the  judicious  arrangements  of  the  officers  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States. 

The  state  of  the  finances  exhibits  the  resources  of  the 
nation  in  an  aspect  higlily  Battering  to  its  industry,  and 
auspicious  of  the  ability  of  the  government,  in  a  very 
short  time,  to  extinguish  the  public  debt.  When  this 
shall  be  done,  our  population  will  be  relieved  from  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  its  present  burdens;  and  will  find 
not  only  new  motives  to  patriotic  affection,  but  additional 
means  for  the  display  of  individual  enterprise.  The 
fiscal  power  of  the  states  will  also  be  increased ;  and 
may  be  more  extensively  exerted  in  favor  of  education 
and  other  public  objects ;  while  ample  means  will  remain 


I 

JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  139 

in  the  federal  government  to  promote  the  general  weal, 
.in  all  the  modes  permitted  to  its  authority. 

After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt,  it  is  not  proba- 
ble that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff,  upon  prineiples 
satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  Union,  will,  until  a  re- 
mote period,  if  ever,  leave  the  government  without  a 
considerable  surplus  in  the  treasury,  beyond  what  may 
be  required  for  its  current  service.  As,  then,  the  period 
"  approaches  when  the  application  of  the  revenue  to  pay- 
ment of  the  debt  will  cease,  the  disposition  of  the  sur- 
plus will  present  a  subject  for  the  serious  deliberation  of 
Congress;  and  it  may  be  fortunate  for  the  country  that 
it  is  yet  to  be  decided.  Considered  in  connection  with 
the  difficulties  which  have  heretofore  attended  appropria- 
tions for  purposes  of  internal  improvement,  and  with 
those  which  this  experience  tells  us  will  certainly  arise, 
whenever  power  over  such  subjects  may  be  exercised  by 
the  general  government ;  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to 
the  adoption  of  some  plan  which  will  reconcile  the  di- 
Tersified  interests  of  the  states,  and  strengthen  the  bonds 
which  unite  them.  Every  member  of  the  Union,  in 
peace  and  in  war,  will  be  benefitted  by  the  improvement 
of  inland  navigation,  and  the  construction  of  highways 
in  the  several  states.  Let  us  then  endeavor  to  attain  this 
benefit  in  a  mode  that  will  be  satisfactory  to  all.  That 
hitherto  adopted  has,  by  many  of  our  fellow-citizens, 
been  deprecated  as  an  infraction  of  the  constitution  ; 
while  by  others  it  has  been  viewed  as  inexpedient.  All 
feel  that  it  has  been  employed  at  the  expense  of  harmony 
in  the  legislative  councils. 

To  avoid  these  evils,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most 
safe,  just,  and  federal  disposition  which  could  be  made 
of  this  surplus  revenue,  would  be  its  apportionment 
among  the  several  states,  according  to  their  ratio  of  re- 
presentation ;  and  should  this  measure  not  be  found  war- 
ranted by  the  constitution,  that  it  would  be  expedient  to 
propose  to  the  states  an  amendment  authorizing  it.  I 
regard  an  appeal  to  the  source  of  power,,  in  all  cases  of 
real  doubt,  and  where  its  exercise  is  deemed  advisable  to 
the  general  welfare,  as  among  the  most  sacred  of  all  our 
obligations.  Upon  this  country,  more  than  any  other. 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAK. 

. 

has,  in  the  providence  of  God,  been  cast  the  special 
guardianship  of  the  great  principle  of  adherence  to  writ- 
ten constitutions.  If  it  fail  here,  all  hope  in  regard  to  it 
will  be  extinguished.  That  this  was  intended  to  be  a 
government  of  limited  and  specific,  and  not  general  pow- 
ers, must  be  admitted  by  all ;  and  it  is  our  duty  to  pre- 
serve for  it  the  character  intended  by  its  framers.  If 
experience  points  out  the  necessity  for  an  enlargement 
of  these  powers,  let  us  apply  for  it  to  those  for  whose" 
benefit  it  is  to  be  exercised  ;  and  not  undermine  the 
whole  system  by  a  resort  to  overstrained  constructions. 
The  scheme  has  worked  well.  It  has  exceeded  the  hopes 
of  those  who  devised  it,  and  become  an  object  of  admi- 
ration to  the  world.  We  are  responsible  to  our  country 
and  to  the  glorious  cause  of  self-government,  for  the 
preservation  of  so  great  a  good.  The  great  mass  of 
legislation  relating  to  our  internal  affairs,  was  intended 
to  be  left  where  the  federal  convention  found  it — in  the 
state  governments.  Nothing  is  clearer,  in  my  view,  than 
that  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  the  success  of  the  con- 
stitution under  which  we  are  now  acting,  to  the  watchful 
and  auxiliary  operation  of  the  state  authorities.  This  is 
not  the  reflection  of  a  day,  but  belongs  to  the  most  deeply 
rooted  convictions  of  my  mind.  I  cannot,  therefore,  too 
strongly  or  too  earnestly,  for  my  own  sense  of  its  impor- 
tance, warn  you  against  all  encroachment  upon  the  le- 
fitimate  sphere  of  state  sovereignty.  Sustained  by  its 
ealthful  and  invigorating  influence,  the  federal  system 
can  never  fall. 

In  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  the  long  credits  au- 
thorized on  goods  imported  from  beyond  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  are  the  chief  cause  of  the  losses  at  present 
sustained.  If  these  were  shortened  to  six,  nine,  and 
twelve  months,  and  warehouses  provided  by  government, 
sufficient  to  receive  the  goods  offered  in  deposite  for  se- 
curity and  for  debenture  ;  and  if  the  right  of  the  United 
States  to  a  priority  of  payment  out  of  the  estates  of  its 
insolvent  debtors  was  more  effectually  secured,  this  evil 
would  in  a  great  measure  be  obviated.  An  authority  to 
construct  such  houses  is,  therefore,  with  the  proposed 
alteration  of  the  credits,  recommended  to  your  attention. 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  141 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  laws  for  the  collection 
and  security  of  the  revenue  arising  from  imposts,  were 
chiefly  framed  when  the  rates  of  duties  on  imported 
goods  presented  much  less  temptation  for  illicit  trade 
than  at  present  exists.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
hese  laws  are,  in  some  respects,  quite  insufficient  for  the 
proper  security  of  the  revenue,  and  the  protection  of  the 
interests  of  those  who  are  disposed  to  observe  them.  The 
injurious  and  demoralizing  tendency  of  a  successful  sys- 
tem of  smuggling  is  so  obvious  as  not  to  require  com- 
ment, and  cannot  be  too  carefully  guarded  against.  I 
therefore  suggest  to  Congress  the  propriety  of  adopting 
efficient  measures  to  prevent  this  evil,  avoiding,  however, 
as  much  as  possible,  every  unnecessary  infringement  of 
individual  liberty,  and  embarrassment  of  fair  and  lawful 
business. 

On  an  examination  of  the  records  of  the  treasury,  I 
have  been  forcibly  struck  with  the  large  amount  of  pub- 
lic money  which  appears  to  be  outstanding.  Of  this  sum 
thus  diie  from  individuals  to  the  government,  a  consider- 
able portion  is  undoubtedly  desperate ;  and  in  many  in- 
stances, has  probably  been  rendered  so  by  remissness  in 
the  agents  charged  with  its  collection.  By  proper  exertions, 
a  great  part,  however,  may  yet  be  recovered ;  and  what- 
ever may  be  the  portions  respectively  belonging  to  these 
two  classes,  it  behoves  the  government  to  ascertain  the  real 
state  of  the  fact.  This  can  be  done  only  by  the  prompt 
adoption  of  judicious  measures  for  the  collection  of  such 
as  may  be  made  available.  It  is  believed  that  a  very  large 
amount  has  been  lost  through  the  inadequacy  of  the 
means  provided  for  the  collection  of  debts  due  to  the 
public ;  and  that  this  inadequacy  lies  chiefly  in  the  want 
of  legal  skill,  habitually  and  constantly  employed  in  the 
direction  of  the  agents  engaged  in  the  service.  It  must, 
I  think,  be  admitted,  that  the  supervisory  power  over 
suits  brought  by  the  public,  which  is  now  vested  in  an 
accounting  officer  of  the  treasury,  not  selected  with  a 
view  to  his  legal  knowledge,  and  encumbered  as  he  is 
with  numerous  other  duties,  operates  unfavorably  to  the 
public  interest. 

It  is  important  that  this  branch  of  the  public  service 

v> 


142  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

should  be  subject  to  the  supervision  of  such  professional 
skill  as  will  give  it  efficacy.  The  expense  attendant  upon 
such  a  modification  of  the  executive  department,  would 
be  justified  by  the  soundest  principles  of  economy.  I 
would  recommend,  therefore,  that  the  duties  now  assigned 
to  the  agent  of  the  treasury,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the 
superintendence  and  management  of  legal  proceedings 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  to  be  transferred  to  the 
attorney-general ;  and  that  this  officer  be  placed  on  the 
same  footing  in  all  respects,  as  the  heads  of  the  other 
departments — receiving  like  compensation,  and  having 
such  subordinate  officers  provided  for  his  department,  as 
may  be  requisite  for  the  discharge  of  these  additional 
duties.  The  professional  skill  of  the  attorney-general, 
employed  in  directing  the  conduct  of  marshals  and  dis- 
trict attorneys,  would  hasten  the  collection  of  debts  now 
in  suit,  and  hereafter  save  much  to  the  government.  It 
might  be  further  extended  to  the  superintendence  of  all 
criminal  proceedings  for  offences  against  the  United  States. 
In  making  this  transfer,  great  care  should  be  taken,  how- 
ever, that  the  power  necessary  to  the  treasury  depart- 
ment be  not  impaired ;  one  of  its  greatest  securities  con- 
sisting in  a  control  over  all  accounts  until  they  are  audited 
or  reported  for  suit. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  views,  I  would  sug- 
gest, also,  an  inquiry,  whether  the  provisions  of  the  act 
of  Congress,  authorizing  the  discharge  of  the  persons  of 
debtors  to  the  government  from  imprisonment,  may  not, 
consistently  with  the  public  interest,  be  extended  to  the 
release  of  the  debt,  where  the  conduct  of  the  debtor  is 
wholly  exempt  from  the  imputation  of  fraud.  Some  more 
liberal  policy  than  that  which  now  prevails  in  reference 
to  this  unfortunate  class  of  citizens  is  certainly  due  to 
them,  and  would  prove  beneficial  to  the  country.  The 
continuance  of  the  liability  after  the  means  to  discharge 
it  have  been  exhausted,  can  only  serve  to  dispirit  the 
debtor  ;  or  where  his  resources  are  but  partial,  the  want 
of  power  in  the  government  to  compromise  and  release 
the  demand,  instigates  to  fraud,  as  the  only  resource  for 
securing  a  support  to  his  family.  He  thus  sinks  into  a 
state  of  apathy,  or  becomes  a  useless  drone  in  society,  or 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  143 

a  vicious  member  of  it,  if  not  a  feeling  witness  of  the 
rigor  and  inhumanity  of  his  country.  All  experience 
proves  that  an  oppressive  debt  is  the  bane  of  enterprise ; 
and  it  should  be  the  care  of  a  republic  not  to  exert  a 
grinding  power  over  misfortune  and  poverty. 

Since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  numerous  frauds 
On  the  treasury  have  been  discovered,  which  I  thought  it 
my  duty  to  bring  under  the  cognizance  of  the  United 
States  Court,  for  this  district,  by  a  criminal  prosecution. 
It  was  my  opinion,  and  that  of  able  counsel  who  were 
consulted,  that  the  cases  came  within  the  penalties  of  the 
act  of  the  17th  Congress,  approved  3d  March,  1823,  pro- 
viding for  the  punishment  of  frauds  committed  on  the 
government  of  the  United  States.  Either  from  some  de- 
fect in  the  law  or  in  its  administration,  every  effort  to  bring 
the  accused  to  trial  under  its  provisions  proved  ineffectu- 
al, and  the  government  was  driven  to  the  necessity  of 
resorting  to  the  vague  and  inadequate  provisions  of  the 
common  law.  It  is  therefore  my  duty  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  the  laws  which  have  been  passed  for  the  protection 
of  the  treasury.  If,  indeed,  there  is  no  provision  by 
which  those  who  may  be  unworthily  intrusted  with  its 
guardianship,  can  be  punished  for  the  most  flagrant  vio- 
lation of  duty,  extending  even  to  the  most  fraudulent 
appropriation  of  the  public  funds  to  their  own  use,  it  is 
time  to  remedy  so  dangerous  an  omission.  Or,  if  the 
law  has  been  perverted  from  its  original  purposes,  and 
criminals  deserving  to  be  punished  under  its  provisions, 
have  been  rescued  by  legal  subtilties,  it  ought  to  be  made 
so  plain,  by  amendatory  provisions,  as  to  baffle  the  arts  of 
perversion,  and  accomplish  the  ends  of  its  original  enact- 
ment. 

In  one  of  the  most  flagrant  cases,  the  court  decided 
that  the  prosecution  was  barred  by  the  statute  which  limits 
prosecutions  for  fraud  to  two  years.  In  this  case  all  the 
evidences  of  the  fraud,  and  indeed  all  knowledge  that  a 
fraud  had  been  committed,  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
party  accused,  until  after  the  two  years  had  elapsed. 
Surely  the  statute  ought  not  to  run  in  favor  of  any  man 
while  he  retains  all  the  evidences  of  his  crime  in  his  own 
possession ;  and  least  of  all,  in  favor  of  a  public  officer 


144  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

who  continues  to  defraud  the  treasury,  aliu  conceal  the 
transaction  for  the  brief  term  of  two  years.  I  would 
therefore  recommend  such  an  alteration  of  the  law  as  will 
give  the  injured  party  and  the  government  two  years  after 
the  disclosure  of  the  fraud,  or  after  the  accused  is  out  of 
office,  to  commence  their  prosecution. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  I  invite  the  attention 
of  Congress  to  a  general  and  minute  inquiry  into  the 
condition  of  the  government ;  with  a  view  to  ascertain 
what  offices  can  be  dispensed  with,  what  expenses  re- 
trenched, and  what  improvements  may  be  made  in  the 
organization  of  its  various  parts  to  secure  the  proper  re- 
sponsibility of  public  agents,  and  promote  efficiency  and 
justice  in  all  its  operations. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  will  make  you 
acquainted  with  the  condition  of  our  army,  fortifications, 
arsenals,  and  Indian  affairs.  The  proper  discipline  of 
the  army,  the  training  and  equipment  of  the  militia,  the 
education  bestowed  at  West  Point,  and  the  accumulation 
of  the  means  of  defence,  applicable  to  the  naval  force, 
will  tend  to  prolong  the  peace  we  now  enjoy,  and  which 
every  good  citizen,  more  especially  those  who  have  felt 
the  miseries  of  even  a  successful  warfare,  most  ardently 
desire  to  perpetuate. 

The  returns  from  the  subordinate  branches  of  this 
service  exhibit  a  regularity  and  order  highly  creditable 
to  its  character  :  both  officers  and  soldiers  seem  imbued 
with  a  proper  sense  of  duty,  and  conform  to  the  restraints 
of  exact  discipline  with  th.it  cheerfulness  which  becomes 
the  profession  of  arins.  There  is  need,  however,  of  fur- 
ther legislation  to  obviate  the  inconveniences  specified 
in  the  report  under  consideration ;  to  some  of  which  it 
is  proper  that  I  should  call  your  particular  attention. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  the  2d  March,  1821,  to  reduce 
and  fix  the  military  establishment,  remaining  unexecuted 
as  it  regards  the  command  of  one  of  the  regiments  of 
artillery,  cannot  now  be  deemed  a  guide  to  the  executive 
in  making  the  proper  appointment.  An  explanatory  act, 
designating  the  class  of  officers  out  of  which  this  grade 
is  to  be  filled — whether  from  the  military  list,  as  existing 
prior  to  the  act  of  1821,  or  from  it,  as  it  has  been  fixed 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  145 

by  that  act — would  remove  this  difficulty.  It  is  also  im- 
portant that  the  laws  regulating  the  pay  and  emoluments 
of  the  officers  generally,  should  be  more  specific  than 
they  now  are.  Those,  for  example,  in  relation  to  the 
paymaster  and  surgeon-general,  assign  to  them  an  annual 
salary  of  $2,500 ;  but  are  silent  as  to  allowances  which, 
in  certain  exigencies  of  the  service,  may  be  deemed  in- 
dispensable to  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  This  cir- 
cumstance has  been  the  authority  for  extending  to  them 
various  allowances  at  different  times  under  former  admi- 
nistrations ;  but  no  uniform  rule  has  been  observed  on 
the  subject.  Similar  inconveniences  exist  in  other  cases, 
in  which  the  construction  put  upon  the  laws  by  the  pub- 
lic accountants  may  operate  unequally,  produce  confu- 
sion, and  expose  officers  to  the  odium  of  claiming  what 
is  not  their  due. 

I  recommend  to  your  fostering  care,  as  one  of  our 
safest  means  of  national  defence,  the  Military  Academy. 
This  institution  has  already  exercised  the  happiest  influ- 
ence upon  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of  our 
army  ;  and  such  of  the  graduates  as,  from  various  causes, 
may  not  pursue  the  profession  of  arms,  will  be  scarce- 
ly less  useful  as  citizens.  Their  knowledge  of  the  mili- 
tary art  will  be  advantageously  employed  in  the  militia 
service  ;  and  in  a  measure  secure  to  that  class  of  troops 
the  advantages  which  in  this  respect  belong  to  standing 
armies. 

I  would  also  suggest  a  review  of  the  pension  law,  for 
the  purpose  of  extending  its  benefits  to  every  revolution- 
ary soldier  who  aided  in  establishing  our  liberties,  and 
who  is  unable  to  maintain  himself  in  comfort.  Those 
relics  of  the  war  of  independence  have  strong  claims  upon 
their  country's  gratitude  and  bounty.  The  law  is  de- 
fective in  not  embracing  within  its  provisions  all  those 
who  were  during  the  last  war  disabled  from  supporting 
themselves  by  manual  labor.  Such  an  amendment  would 
add  but  little  to  the  amount  of  pensions,  and  is  called  for 
by  the  sympathies  of  the  people,  as  well  as  by  considera- 
tions of  sound  policy.  It  will  be  perceived  that  a  large 
addition  to  the  list  of  pensioners  has  been  occasioned  by 
an  order  of  the  late  administration,  departing  materially 
13 


146  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

from  the  rules  which  had  previously  prevailed.  Consider- 
ing it  an  act  of  legislation,  I  suspended  its  operation  as 
soon  as  I  was  informed  that  it  had  commenced.  Before 
this  period,  however,  applications  under  the  new  regula- 
tion had  been  preferred,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-four  :  of  which,  on  the  27th  March,  the  date 
of  its  revocation,  eighty-seven  were  admitted.  For  the 
amount  there  was  neither  estimate  nor  appropriation  ; 
and  besides  this  deficiency,  the  regular  allowances,  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  which  have  heretofore  governed  the 
department,  exceed  the  estimate  of  its  late  secretary,  by 
about  fifty  thousand  dollars,  for  which  an  appropriation  is 
asked. 

Your  particular  attention  is  requested  to  that  part  of 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  which  relates  to  the 
money  held  in  trust  for  the  Seneca  tribe  of  Indians.  It 
will  be  perceived  that,  without  legislative  aid,  the  execu- 
tive cannot  obviate  the  embarrassments  occasioned  by 
the  diminution  of  the  dividends  on  that  fund,  which  ori- 
ginally amounted  to  $100,000,  and  has  recently  been 
vested  in  the  United  States  three  per  cejot.  stock. 

The  condition  and  ulterior  destiny  of  the  Indian  tribes 
within  the  limits  of  some  of  our  states,  have  become  ob- 
jects of  much  interest  and  importance.  It  has  long  been 
the  policy  of  government  to  introduce  among  them  the 
arts  of  civilization,  in  the  hope  of  gradually  reclaiming 
them  from  a  wandering  life.  This  policy  has,  however, 
been  coupled  with  another  wholly  incompatible  with  its 
success.  Professing  a  desire  to  civilize  and  settle  them, 
we  have  at  the  same  time  lost  no  opportunity  to  purchase 
their  lands,  and  thrust  them  further  into  the  wilderness. 
By  this  means  they  have  not  only  been  kept  in  a  wander- 
ing state,  but  been  led  to  look  upon  us  as  unjust  and  in- 
different to  their  fate.  Thus,  though  lavish  in  expendi- 
tures upon  the  subject,  government  has  constantly  de- 
feated its  own  policy  ;  and  the  Indians,  in  general,  rece- 
ding further  and  further  to  the  west,  have  retained  their 
savage  habits.  A  portion,  however,  of  the  southern 
tribes,  having  mingled  much  with  the  whites,  and  made 
some  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  have  lately  at- 
tempted to  erect  an  independent  government  within  the 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  117 

limits  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  These  states,  claiming 
to  be  the  only  sovereigns  within  their  territories,  extend- 
ed their  laws  over  the  Indians  ;  which  induced  the  latter 
to  call  upon  the  United  States  for  protection. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  question  presented  was, 
whether  the  general  government  had  a  right  to  sustain 
those  people  in  their  pretensions.  The  constitution  de- 
clares, that  "  no  new  state  shall  be  formed  or  erected 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  state,"  without  the 
consejit  of  ifs  legislature.  If  the  general  government  is 
not  permitted  to  tolerate  the  erection  of  a  confederate 
state  within  the  territory  of  one  of  the  members  of  this 
Union,  against  her  consent,  much  less  could  it  allow  a 
foreign  and  independent  government  to  establish  itself 
there.  Georgia  became  a  member  of  the  confederacy 
which  eventuated  in  our  federal  union,  as  a  sovereign 
state,  always  asserting  her  claim  to  certain  limits  ;  which 
having  been  originally  denned  in  her  colonial  charter,  and 
subsequently  recognized  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  she  has 
ever  since  continued  to  enjoy,  except  as  they  have  been 
circumscribed  by  her  own  voluntary  transfer  of  a  portion 
of  her  territory  to  the  Uuited  States,  in  the  articles  of 
cession  of  18D2.  Alabama  was  admitted  into  the'Union 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  original  states,  with  boun- 
daries which  were  prescribed  by  Congress.  There  is  no 
constitutional,  conventional,  or  legal  provision,  which 
allows  them  less  power  over  the  Indians  within  their  bor- 
ders, than  is  possessed  by  Maine  or  New  York.  Would 
the  people  of  Maine  permit  the  Penobscot  tribe  to  erect 
an  independent  government  within  their  state  ?  and  unless 
they  did,  would  it  not  be  the  duty  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  support  them  in  resisting  such  a  measure? 
Would  the  people  of  New  York  permit  each  remnant  of 
the  Six  Nations  within  her  borders,  to  declare  itself  an 
independent  people  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States?  Could  the  Indians  establish  a  separate  republic 
in  each  of  their  reservations  in  Ohio  ?  and  if  they  were 
so  disposed,  would  it  be  the  duty  of  this  government  to 
protect  them  in  the  attempt  ?  If  the  principle  involved 
in  the  obvious  answer  to  these  questions  be  abandoned, 
it  will  follow  that  the  objects  of  this  government  are  re-» 


148  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

versed ;  and  that  it  has  become  a  part  of  its  duty  to  aiJ 
in  destroying  the  states  which  it  was  established  to  pro- 
tect. 

Actuated  by  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  informed  the 
Indians  inhabiting  parts  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  that 
their  attempt  to  establish  an  independent  government 
would  not  be  countenanced  by  the  executive  of  the  Uni- 
ted States ;  and  advised  them  to  emigrate  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  or  submit  to  the  laws  of  those  states. 

Our  conduct  towards  these  people  is  deeply  interesting 
to  our  national  character.  Their  present  condition,  con- 
trasted with  what  they  once  were,  makes  a  most  powerful 
appeal  to  our  sympathies.  Our  ancestors  found  them  the 
uncontrolled  possessors  of  these  vast  regions.  By  per- 
suasion and  force  they  have  been  made  to  retire  from 
river  to  river,  and  from  mountain  to  mountain,  until  some 
of  the  tribes  have  become  extinct,  and  others  have  left 
but  remnants,  to  preserve,  for  a  while,  tlioir  once  terrible 
names.  Surrounded  by  the  whites,  with  their  arts  of  ci- 
vilization, which,  by  destroying  the  resources  of  the  sa- 
vage, doom  him  to  weakness  and  decay  ;  the  fate  of  the 
Mohegan,  the  Narragansett,  and  the  Delaware,  is  fast 
overtaking  the  Choctaw,  the  Cherokee,  and  the  Creek. 
That  this  fate  surely  awaits  them  if  they  remain  within 
the  limits  of  the  states,  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt.  Hu- 
manity and  national  honor  demand  that  every  effort 
should  be  made  to  avert  so  great  a  calamity.  It  is  too 
late  to  inquire  whether  it  was  just  in  the  United  States  to 
include  them  and  their  territory  within  the  bounds  of 
new  states  whose  limits  they  could  control.  That  step 
cannot  be  retraced.  A  state  cannot  be  dismembered  by 
Congress,  or  restricted  in  the  exercise  of  her  constitu- 
tional power.  But  the  people  of  those  states,  and  of 
every  state,  actuated  by  feelings  of  justice  and  a  regard 
for  our  national  honor,  submit  to  you  the  interesting 
question,  whether  something  cannot  be  done,  consistently 
with  the  rights  of  the  states,  to  preserve  this  much  inju- 
red race. 

As  a  means  of  effecting  this  end,  I  suggest  for  your 
consideration  the  propriety  of  setting  apart  an  ample  dis- 
trict west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  without  the  limits  of 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  149 

any  state  or  territory  now  formed,  to  be  guarantied  to  the 
Indian  tribes,  as  long  as  they  shall  occupy  it ;  each  tribe 
having  a  distinct  control  over  the  portion  designated  for 
its  use.  There  they  may  be  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of 
governments  of  their  own  choice,  subject  to  no  other 
control  from  the  United  States  than  such  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  preserve  peace  on  the  frontier,  and  between  the 
several  tribes.  There  the  benevolent  may  endeavor  to 
teach  them  the  arts  of  civilization ;  and,  by  promoting 
union  and  harmony  among  them,  to  raise  up  an  interest- 
ing commonwealth,  destined  to  perpetuate  the  race,  and 
to  attest  the  humanity  and  justice  of  this  government. 

This  emigration  should  be  voluntary  ;  for  it  would  be 
as  cruel  as  unjust  to  compel  the  aborigines  to  abandon 
the  graves  of  their  fathers,  and  seek  a  home  in  a  distant 
land.  But  they  should  be  distinctly  informed  that,  if 
they  remain  within  the  limits  of  the  states,  they  must  be 
subject  to  their  laws.  In  return  for  their  obedience  as 
individuals,  they  will,  without  doubt,  be  protected  in  the 
enjoyment  of  those  possessions  which  they  have  improved 
by  their  industry.  But  it  seems  to  me  visionary  to  sup- 
pose, that  in  this  state  of  things,  claims  can  be  allowed 
on  tracts  of  country  on  which  they  have  neither  dwelt 
nor  made  improvements,  merely  because  they  have  seen 
them  from  the  mountain,  or  passed  them  in  the  chase. 
Submitting  to  the  laws  of  the  states,  and  receiving,  like 
other  citizens,  protection  in  their  persons  and  property, 
they  will  ere  long  become  merged  in  the  mass  of  our 
population. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  will  make  you  acquainted  with  the  condition  and 
useful  employment  of  that  branch  of  our  service  during 
the  present  year.  Constituting,  as  it  does,  the  best  stand- 
ing security  of  this  country  against  foreign  aggression, 
it  claims  the  especial  attention  of  government.  In  this 
spirit,  the  measures  which,  since  the  termination  of  the 
last  war,  have  been  in  operation  for  its  gradual  enlarge- 
ment were  adopted ;  and  it  should  continue  to  be  che- 
rished as  the  offspring  of  our  national  experience.  It 
will  be  seen,  however,  that  notwithstanding  the  great  so- 
licitude which  has  been  manifested  for  the  perfect  orga- 
13* 


150  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

nization  of  this  arm,  and  the  liberality  of  the  appropria 
tions  which  that  solicitude  has  suggested,  this  object  has, 
in  many  important  respects,  not  been  secured. 

In  time  of  peace  we  have  need  of  no  more  ships  of 
war  than  are  requisite  to  the  protection  of  our  commerce. 
Those  not  wanted  for  this  object,  must  lay  in  the  harbors, 
•where,  without  proper  covering,  they  rapidly  decay  ;  and 
even  under  the  best  precautions  for  their  preservation, 
must  soon  become  useless.  Such  is  already  the  case  with 
many  of  our  finest  vessels  ;  which,  though  unfinished,  will 
now  require  immense  sums  of  money  to  be  restored  to 
the  condition  in  which  they  were  when  committed  to  their 
proper  element.  On  this  subject  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  our  best  policy  would  be  to  discontinue  the  building 
of  the  first  and  second  class,  and  look  rather  to  the  pos- 
session of  ample  materials,  prepared  for  the  emergencies 
of  war,  than  to  the  number  of  vessels  which  we  can  float 
in  a  season  of  peace,  as  the  index  of  our  naval  power. 
Judicious  deposites  in  the  navy-yards,  of  timber  and  other 
materials,  fashioned  under  the  hands  of  skilful  workmen, 
and  fitted  for  prompt  application  to  their  various  pur- 
poses, would  enable  us,  at  all  times,  to  construct  vessels  as 
fast  as  they  can  be  manned  ;  and  save  the  heavy  expense 
of  repairs,  except  to  such  vessels  as  must  be  employed  in 
guarding  our  commerce.  The  proper  points  for  the  esta- 
blishments of  these  yards  are  indicated  with  so  much 
force  in  the  report  of  the  Navy  Board,  that,  in  recom- 
mending it  to  your  attention,  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  do 
more  than  express  my  hearty  concurrence  in  their  views. 
The  yard  in  this  district,  being  already  furnished  with 
mo.-t  of  the  machinery  necessary  for  ship  building,  will 
be  competent  to  the  supply  of  the  two  selected  by  the 
board  as  the  best  for  the  concentration  of  materials ;  and 
from  the  facility  and  certainty  of  communication  between 
them,  it  will  be  useless  to  incur,  at  those  depots,  the  ex- 
pense of  similar  machinery,  especially  that  used  in  pre- 
paring the  usual  metallic  and  wooden  furniture  of  vessels. 

Another  improvement  would  be  effected  by  dispensing 
altogether  witli  the  Navy  Board,  as  now  constituted,  and 
substituting  in  its  stead,  bureaus  similar  to  those  already 
existing  in  the  War  department.  Each  member  of  the 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  151 

board,  transferred  to  the  head  of  a  separate  bureau  charged 
with  specific  duties,  would  feel,  in  its  highest  degree,  that 
wholesome  responsibility  which  cannot  be  divided  without 
a  far  more  proportionate  diminution  of  its  force.  Their 
valuable  services  would  become  still  more  so  when  sepa- 
rately appropriated  to  distinct  portions  of  the  great  inte- 
rests of  the  navy  ;  to  the  prosperity  of  which  each  would 
be  impelled  to  devote  himself  by  the  strongest  motives. 
Under  such  an  arrangement,  every  branch  of  this  impor- 
tant service  would  assume  a  more  simple  and  precise 
character;  its  efficiency  would  be  increased,  and  scru- 
pulous economy  in  the  expenditure  of  public  money 
promoted. 

I  would  also  recommend  that  the  marine  corps  be 
merged  in  the  artillery  or  infantry,  as  the  best  mode  of 
curing  the  many  defects  in  its  organization.  But  little 
exceeding  in  number  any  of  the  regiments  of  infantry, 
that  corps  has,  besides  its  lieutenant-colonel  command- 
ant, five  brevet  lieutenant-colonels,  who  receive  the  full 
pay  and  emoluments  of  their  brevet  rank,  without  render- 
ing proportionate  service.  Details  for  marine  service 
could  as  well  be  made  from  the  artillery  or  infantry — there 
being  no  peculiar  training  requisite  for  it. 

With  these  improvements,  and  such  others  as  zealous 
watchfulness  and  mature  consideration  may  suggest,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that,  under  an  energetic  administration 
of  its  affairs,  the  navy  may  soon  be  made  every  thing  that 
the  nation  wishes  it  to  be.  Its  efficiency  in  the  suppres- 
sion of  piracy  in  the  West  India  seas,  and  wherever  its 
squadrons  have  been  employed  in  securing  the  interests 
of  the  country,  will  appear  from  the  report  of  the  secre- 
tary to  which  I  refer  you,  for  other  interesting  details. 
Among  these  I  would  bespeak  the  attention  of  Congress 
from  the  views  presented  in  relation  to  the  inequality 
between  the  army  and  navy  as  to  the  pay  of  officers. 
No  such  inequality  should  prevail  between  these  brave 
defenders  of  their  country ;  and  where  it  does  exist, 
it  is  submitted  to  Congress  whether  il  ought  not  to  be 
rectified. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-general  is  referred  to  as 
exhibiting  a  highly  satisfactory  administration  of  that 


152  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

department.  Abuses  have  been  reformed  ;  increased  ex- 
pedition in  the  transportation  of  the  mail  secured ;  and 
its  revenue  much  improved.  In  a  political  point  of  view 
this  department  is  chiefly  important  as  affording  the  means 
of  diffusing  knowledge.  It  is  to  the  body  politic  what 
the  veins  and  arteries  are  to  the  natural — conveying  ra- 
pidly and  regularly  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  system, 
correct  information  of  the  operations  of  the  government ; 
and  bringing  back  to  it  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  the 
people.  Through  its  agency,  we  have  secured  to  our- 
selves the  full  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  a  free  press. 

In  this  general  survey  of  our  affairs,  a  subject  of  high 
importance  presents  itself  in  the  present  organization  of 
the  judiciary.  A  uniform  operation  of  the  federal  go- 
vernment in  the  different  states  is  certainly  desirable; 
and  existing  as  they  do  in  the  Union,  on  the  basis  of  per- 
fect equality,  each  state  has  a  right  to  expect  that  the 
benefits  conferred  on  the  citizens  of  others  should  be 
extended  to  hers.  The  judicial  system  of  the  United 
States  exists  in  all  its  efficiency  in  only  fifteen  members 
of  the  Union  :  to  three  others,  the  circuit  courts,  which 
constitute  an  important  part  of  that  system,  have  been 
imperfectly  extended ;  and  to  the  remaining  six,  altoge- 
ther denied.  The  effect  has  been  to  withhold  from  the 
inhabitants  of  the  latter,  the  advantages  afforded  (by  the 
supreme  court)  to  their  fellow-citizens  in  other  states,  in 
the  whole  extent  of  the  criminal,  and  much  of  the  civil 
authority  of  the  federal  judiciary.  That  this  state  of 
things  ought  to  be  remedied,  if  it  can  be  done  consist- 
ently with  the  public  welfare,  is  not  to  be  doubted  :  nei- 
ther is  it  to  be  disguised  that  the  organization  of  our  ju- 
dicial system  is  at  once  a  difficult  and  delicate  task.  To 
extend  the  circuit  courts  equally  throughout  the  different 
parts  of  the  Union,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  avoid  such  a 
multiplication  of  members  as  would  encumber  the  su- 
preme appellate  tribunal,  is  the  object  desired.  Perhaps 
it  might  be  accomplished  by  dividing  the  circuit  judges 
into  two  classes,  and  providing  that  the  supreme  court 
should  be  held  by  those  classes  alternately — the  chief 
justice  always  presiding. 

If  an  extension  of  the  circuit  court  system  to  those 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  153 

Slates  which  do  not  now  enjoy  its  benefits  should  be  de- 
termined upon,  it  would  of  course  be  necessasy  to  revise 
the  present  arrangements  of  the  circuits  ;  and  even  if  that 
system  should  not  be  enlarged,  such  a  revision  is  recom- 
mended. 

A  provision  for  taking  the  census  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  will,  to  insure  the  completion  of  that  work 
within  a  convenient  time,  claim  the  early  attention  of 
Congress. 

The  great  and  constant  increase  of  business  in  the  De- 
partment of  State  forced  itself,  at  an  early  period,  upon 
the  attention  of  the  executive.  Thirteen  years  ago,  it 
was  in  Mr.  Madison's  last  message  to  Congress  made  the 
subject  of  an  earnest  recommendation,  which  has  been 
repeated  by  both  of  his  successors ;  and  my  compara- 
tively limited  experience  has  satisfied  me  of  its  justness. 
It  has  arisen  from  many  causes,  not  the  least  of  which  is 
the  large  addition  that  has  been  made  to  the  family  of  in- 
dependent nations,  and  the  proportionate  extension  of  our 
foreign  relations.  The  remedy  proposed  was  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  Home  Department — a  measure  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  met  the  views  of  Congress,  on 
account  of  its  supposed  tendency  to  increase  gradually, 
and  imperceptibly,  the  already  too  strong  bias  of  the  fe- 
deral system  towards  the  exercise  of  authority  not  dele- 
gated to  it.  I  am  not,  therefore,  disposed  to  revive  the 
recommendation  ;  but  am  not  the  less  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  so  organizing  that  department,  that  its  se- 
cretary may  devote  more  of  his  time  to  our  foreign  rela- 
tions. Clearly  satisfied  that  the  public  good  would  be 
promoted  by  some  suitable  provision  on  the  subject,  I  re- 
spectfully invite  your  attention  to  it. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expires 
in  1836,  and  its  stockholders  will  most  probably  apply  for 
a  renewal  of  their  privileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils 
resulting  from  precipitancy  in  a  measure  involving  such 
important  principles,  and  such  deep  pecuniary  interests, 
I  feel  that  1  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties  interested, 
too  soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  consideration  of  the 
legislature  and  the  people.  Both  the  constitutionality  and 
the  expediency  of  the  law  creating  this  bank  are  well 


154  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

questioned  by  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  and 
it  must  be  admitted  by  all,  that  it  has  failed  in  the  great 
end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  currency. 

Under  these  circumstances,  if  such  an  institution  is 
deemed  essential  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  govern- 
ment, I  submit  to  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature  whether 
a  national  one,  founded  upon  the  credit  of  the  govern- 
ment and  its  revenues,  might  not  be  devised,  which  would 
avoid  all  constitutional  difficulties  ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
secure  all  the  advantages  to  the  government  and  country 
that  were  expected  to  result  from  the  present  bank. 

I  cannot  close  this  communication  without  bringing 
to  your  view  the  just  claim  of  the  representatives  of  Com- 
modore Decatur,  his  officers  and  crew,  arising  from  the 
re-capture  of  the  frigate  Philadelphia,  under  the  heavy 
batteries  of  Tripoli.  Although  sensible,  as  a  general 
rule,  of  the  impropriety  of  executive  interference  under 
a  government  like  ours,  where  every  individual  enjoys 
the  right  of  directly  petitioning  Congress  ;  yet  viewing 
this  case  as  one  of  very  peculiar  character,  I  deem  it  my 
duty  to  recommend  it  to  your  favorable  consideration. 
Besides  the  justice  of  this  claim,  as  corresponding  to 
those  which  have  been  since  recognized  and  satisfied,  it 
is  the  fruit  of  a  deed  of  patriotic  and  chivalrous  daring, 
which  infused  life  and  confidence  into  our  infant  navy, 
and  contributed,  as  much  as  any  exploit  in  its  history,  to 
elevate  our  national  character.  Public  gratitude,  there- 
fore, stamps  her  seal  upon  it ;  and  the  meed  should  not  be 
withheld  which  may  hereafter  operate  as  a  stimulus  to 
our  gallant  tars. 

I  now  commend  you,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  guidance 
of  Almighty  God,  with  a  full  reliance  on  his  merciful 
providence  for  the  maintenance  of  our  free  institutions  ; 
and  with  an  earnest  supplication,  that  whatever  errors  it 
may  be  my  lot  to  commit,  in  discharging  the  arduous  du- 
ties which  have  devolved  on  me,  will  find  a  remedy  in 
the  harmony  and  wisdom  of  your  counsels. 


MAYSVILLE    ROAD    VETO.  155 

MAYSVILLE  ROAD  VETO, 
MAY  27,  1830. 

To  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  maturely  considered  the  bill  pro- 
posing to  authorize  "  a  subscription  of  stock  in  the  Mays- 
ville,  Washington,  Paris,  and  Lexington  Turnpike-road 
Company,"  and  now  return  the  same  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  which  it  originated,  with  my  objec- 
tions to  its  passage. 

Sincerely  friendly  to  the  improvement  of  our  country 
by  means  of  roads  and  canals,  I  regret  that  any  difference 
of  opinion  in  the  mode  of  contributing  to  it  should  exist 
between  us;  and  if,  in  stating  this  difference,  I  go  "beyond 
what  the  occasion  may  be  deemed  to  call  for,  I  hope  to 
find  an  apology  in  the  great  importance  of  the  subject, 
an  unfeigned  respect  for  the  high  source  from  which  this 
branch  of  it  has  emanated,  and  an  anxious  wish  to  be 
correctly  understood  by  my  constituents  in  the  discharge 
of  all  my  duties.  Diversity  of  sentiment  among  public 
functionaries,  actuated  by  the  same  general  motives,  on 
the  character  and  tendency  of  particular  measures,  is  an 
incident  common  to  all  governments,  and  the  more  to  be 
expected  in  one  which,  like  ours,  owes  its  existence  to  the 
freedom  of  opinion,  and  must  be  upheld  by  the  same  in- 
fluence. Controlled,  as  we  thus  are,  by  a  higher  tribu- 
nal, before  which  our  respective  acts  will  be  canvassed 
with  the  indulgence  due  to  the  imperfections  of  our  na- 
ture, and  with  that  intelligence  and  unbiassed  judgment 
which  are  the  true  correctives  of  error,  all  that  our  re- 
sponsibility demands  is,  that  the  public  good  should  be 
the  measure  of  our  views,  dictating  alike  their  frank  ex- 
pression and  honest  maintenance. 

In  the  message  which  was  presented  to  Congress  at 
the  opening  of  its  present  session,  I  endeavored  to  exhibit 
briefly  my  views  upon  the  important  and  highly  interest- 
ing subject  to  which  our  attention  is  now  to  be  directed. 
I  was  desirous  of  presenting  to  the  representatives  of  the 
several  states  in  Congress  assembled,  the  inquiry,  whether 
some  mode  could  not  be  devised,  which  would  reconcile 


156  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  diversity  of  opinion  concerning  the  powers  of  this 
government  over  the  subject  of  internal  improvement,  and 
the  manner  in  which  these  powers,  if  conferred  by  the 
constitution,  ought  to  be  exercised.  The  act  which  I  am 
called  upon  to  consider  has  therefore  been  passed  with  a 
knowledge  of  my  views  on  this  question,  as  these  are 
expressed  in  the  message  referred  to.  In  that  document, 
the  following  suggestions  will  be  found  : — 

"  After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt,  it  is  not  proba- 
ble that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff,  upon  principles  sa- 
tisfactory to  the  people  of  the  Union,  will,  until  a  remote 
'period,  if  ever,  leave  the  government  without  a  considera- 
ble surplus  in  the  treasury,  beyond  what  may  bo  required 
for  its  current  service.  As,  then,  the  period  approaches 
when  the  application  of  the  revenue  to  the  payment  of 
debt  will  cease,  the  disposition  of  the  surplus  will  present 
a  subject  for  the  serious  deliberation  of  Congress;  and  it 
may  be  fortunate  for  the  country  that  it  is  yet  to  be  deci- 
ded. Considered  in  connection  with  the  difficulties  which 
have  heretofore  attended  iippropriations  for  purposes  of 
internal  improvement ;  and  with  those  which  thfs  experi- 
ence tells  us  will  certainly  arise,  whenever  power  over 
such  subjects  may  be  exercised  by  the  general  govern- 
ment ;  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to  the  adoption  of  some 
plan  which  will  reconcile  the  diversified  interests  of  the 
states,  and  strengthen  the  bonds  which  unite  them.  Every 
member  of  the  Union,  in  peace  and  in  war,  will  be  bene- 
fitted  by  the  improvement  of  inland  navigation,  and  the 
construction  of  highways  in  the  several  states.  Let  us 
then  endeavor  to  attain  this  benefit  in  a  mode  which  will 
be  satisfactory  to  all.  That  hitherto  adopted  has,  by  many 
of  our  fellow-citizens,  been  deprecated  as  an  infraction 
of  the  constitution  :  while  by  others  it  has  been  viewed 
as  inexpedient.  All  feel  that  it  Iris  been  employed  at  the 
expense  of  harmony  in  the  legislative  councils."  And 
adverting  to  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  make 
what  I  consider  a  proper  disposition  of  the  surplus  reve- 
nue, I  subjoined  the  following  remarks  :  "  To  avoid  these 
evils,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most  safe,  just,  and  feder- 
al disposition  which  could  be  made  of  the  surplus  reve- 
nue, would  be  its  apportionment  among  the  several  states 


SIAYSVILLE    ROAD    VETO.  157 

according  to  their  ratio  of  representation ;  and  should 
this  measure  not  be  found  warranted  by  the  constitution, 
that  it  would  be  expedient  to  propose  to  the  states  an 
amendment  authorizing  it." 

The  constitutional  power  of  the  federal  government  to 
construct  or  promote  works  of  internal  improvement,  pre- 
sents itself  in  two  points  of  view, — ihe  first,  as  bearing 
upon  the  sovereignty  of  the  states  within  whose  limits 
their  execution  is  contemplated,  if  jurisdiction  of  the 
territory  which  they  may  occupy  be  claimed  as  necessary 
to  their  preservation  and  use:  the  second,  as  asserting 
the  simple  right  to  appropriate  money  from  the  national 
treasury  in  aid  of  such  works,  when  undertaken  by  state 
authority,  surrendering  the  claim  of  jurisdiction.  In  the 
first  view,  the  question  of  power  is  an  open  one,  and  can 
be  decided  without  the  embarrassment  attending  the  other, 
arising  from  the  practice  of  the  government.  Although 
frequently  and  strenuously  attempted,  the  power,  to  this 
extent,  has  never  been  exercised  by  the  government  in  a 
single  instance.  It  does  not,  in  my  opinion,  possess  it; 
and  no  bill,  therefore,  which  admits  it,  can  receive  my 
official  sanction. 

But,  in  the  other  view  of  the  power,  the  question  is 
differently  situated.  The  ground  taken  at  an  early  period 
of  the  government  was,  "  that,  whenever  money  has  been 
raised  by  the  general  authority,  and  is  to  be  applied  to 
a  particular  measure,  a  question  arises,  whether  a  par- 
ticular measure  be  within  the  enumerated  authorities 
vested  in  Congress.  If  it  be,  the  money  requisite  for  it 
may  be  applied  to  it ;  if  not,  no  such  application  can  be 
made."  The  document  in  which  this  principle  was  first 
advanced  is  of  deservedly  high  authority,  and  should  be 
held  in  grateful  remembrance  for  its  immediate  agency 
in  rescuing  the  country  from  much  existing  abuse,  and 
for  its  conservative  effect  upon  some  of  the  most  valuable 
principles  of  the  constitution.  The  symmetry  and  purity 
of  the  government  would  doubtless  have  been  better  pre- 
served if  this  restriction  of  the  power  of  appropriation 
could  have  been  maintained  without  weakening  its  ability 
to  fulfil  the  general  objects  of  its  institution — an  effect  so 
likely  to  attend  its  admission,  notwithstanding  its  appa- 
14 


158  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

rent  fitness,  that  every  subsequent  administration  of  the 
government,  embracing  a  period  of  thirty  out  of  forty- 
t\vo  years  of  its  existence,  has  adopted  a  more  enlarged 
construction  of  the  power.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  detain 
you  by  a  minute  recital  of  the  acts  which  sustain  this 
assertion,  but  it  is  proper  that  I  should  notice  some  of  the 
most  prominent,  in  order  that  the  reflections  which  they 
suggest  to  my  mind  may  be  better  understood. 

In  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  we  have  two 
examples  of  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  appropriation, 
which,  in  the  considerations  that  led  to  their  adoption, 
and  in  their  effects  upon  the  public  mind,  have  had  a 
greater  agency  in  marking  the  character  of  the  power 
than  any  subsequent  events.  I  allude  to  the  payment  of 
fifteen  millions  of  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana, 
and  to  the  original  appropriation  for  the  construction  of 
the  Cumberland  road  ;  the  latter  act  deriving  much  weight 
from  the  acquiescence  and  approbation  of  the  three  most 
powerful  of  the  original  members  of  the  confederacy,  ex- 
pressed through  their  respective  legislatures.  Although 
the  circumstances  of  the  latter  case  may  be  such  as  to 
deprive  so  much  of  it  as  relates  to  the  actual  construc- 
tion of  the  road,  of  the  force  of  an  obligatory  exposition 
of  the  constitution,  it  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  that 
so  far  as  the  mere  appropriation  of  money  is  concerned, 
they  present  the  principle  in  its  most  imposing  aspect. 
No  less  than  twenty-three  different  laws  have  been  passed 
through  all  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  appropriating 
upwards  of  two  millions  and  a  half  dollars  out  of  the  na- 
tional treasury  in  support  of  that  improvement,  with  the 
approbation  of  every  President  of  the  United  States, 
including  my  predecessor,  since  its  commencement. 

Independently  of  the  sanction  giving  appropriations  for 
the  Cumberland  and  other  roads  and  objects,  under  this 
power,  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison  was  characteri- 
sed by  an  act  which  furnishes  the  strongest  evidence  of 
its  extent.  A  bill  was  passed  through  both  houses  of 
Congress,  and  presented  for  his  approval,  "  setting  apart 
and  pledging  certain  funds  for  constructing  roads  and 
canals,  and  improving  the  navigation  of  water  courses, 
in  order  to  facilitate,  promote,  and  give  security  to  inter- 


MAYSVILLE     ROAD    VETO.  159 

nal  commerce  among  the  several  states,  and  to  render 
more  easy  and  less  expensive,  the  means  and  provisions 
for  the  common  defence."  Regarding  the  bill  as  asserting 
a  power  in  the  federal  government  to  construct  roads  and 
canals  within  the  limits  of  the  states,  in  which  they  were 
made,  he  objected  to  its  passage,  on  the  ground  of  its 
unconstitutionality,  declaring  that  the  assent  of  the  re- 
spective states,  in  the  mode  provided  by  the  bill,  could 
not  confer  the  power  in  question  ;  that  the  only  cases  in 
which  the  consent  and  cession  of  particular  states  can 
extend  the  power  of  Congress,  are  those  specified  and 
provided  for  in  the  constitution  ;  and  superadding  these 
avowals,  his  opinion  that  a  restriction  of  the  power  "  to 
provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare"  to 
cases  which  are  to  be  provided  for  by  the  expenditure  of 
money,  would  still  leave  within  the  legislative  power  of 
Congress  all  the  great  and  most  important  measures  of 
government,  money  being  the  ordinary  and  nece&s-ary 
means  of  carrying  them  into  execution.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  consider  these  declarations  in  any  other  point  of 
view  than  as  a  concession  that  the  right  of  appropriation 
is  not  limited  by  the  power  to  carry  into  effect  the  mea- 
sure for  which  the  money  is  asked,  as  was  formerly  con- 
tended. 

The  views  of  Mr.  Monroe  upon  this  subject  were  not 
left  to  inference.  During  his  administration  a  bill  was 
passed  through  both  houses  of  Congress,  conferring  the 
jurisdiction,  and  prescribing  the  mode  by  which  the  fed- 
eral government  should  exercise  it,  in  the  case  of  the 
Cumberland  road.  He  returned  it,  with  objections  to  its 
passage,  and  in  assigning  them,  took  occasion  to  say, 
that  in  the  early  stages  of  the  government,  he  had  inclin- 
ed to  the  construction  that  it  had  no  right  to  expend 
money  except  in  the  performance  of  acts  authorized  by 
the  other  specific  grants  of  power,  according  to  a  strict 
construction  of  them  ;  but  that,  on  further  reflection  and 
observation,  his  mind  had  undergone  a  change;  that  hi* 
opinion  then  was,  "that  Congress  have  an  unlimited  pow- 
er to  raise  money,  and  that  in  its  appropriation  they  have 
a  discretionary  power,  restricted  by  the  duty  to  appropri- 
ate to  purposes  of  common  defence,  and  of  general,  .not 


160  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

local ;  national,  not  state  benefit ;"  and  this  was  avowed 
to  be  the  governing  principle  through  the  residue  of  his 
administration.  The  views  of  the  last  administration  are 
of  such  recent  date  as  to  render  a  particular  reference  to 
them  unnecessary.  It  is  well  known  that  the  appropria- 
ting power,  to  the  utmost  extent  which  had  been  claimed 
for  it  in  relation  to  internal  improvements,  was  fully  re- 
cognized and  exercised  by  it. 

This  brief  reference  to  known  facts  will  be  sufficient 
to  show  the  difficulty,  if  not  impracticability  of  bringing 
back  the  operations  of  the  government  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  constitution  set  up  in  1798,  assuming  that 
to  be  its  true  reading,  in  relation  to  the  power  under  con- 
sideration ;  thus  giving  an  admonitory  proof  of  the  force 
of  implication,  and  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  consti- 
tution with  sleepless  vigilance  against  the  authority  of 
precedents  which  have  not  the  sanction  of  its  most  plainly 
denned  powers.  For,  although  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to 
look  to  that  sacred  instrument,  instead  of  the  statute  book  ; 
to  repudiate  at  all  times,  encroachments  upon  its  spirit, 
which  are  too  apt  to  be  effected  by  the  conjuncture  of 
peculiar  and  facilitating  circumstances  ;  it  is  not  less  true 
that  the  public  good  and  the  nature  of  our  political  in- 
stitutions require  that  individual  differences  shou-ld  yield 
to  a  well-settled  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  confed- 
erated authorities,  in  particular  constructions  of  the  con- 
stitution on  doubtful  points.  Not  to  concede  this  much 
to  the  spirit  of  our  institutions,  would  impair  their  stabili- 
ty, and  defeat  the  objects  of  the  constitution  itself. 

The  bill  before  me  does  not  call  for  a  more  definite 
opinion  upon  the  particular  circumstances  which  will 
warrant  appropriations  of  money  by  Congress,  to  aid 
works  of  internal  improvement ;  for  although  the  exten- 
sion of  the  power  to  apply  money  beyond  that  of  carrying 
into  effect  the  object  for  which  it  is  appropriated,  has,  as 
we  have  seen,  been  long  claimed  and  exercised  by  the 
federal  government,  yet  such  grants  have  always  been 
professedly  under  the  control  of  the  general  principle, 
that  the  works  which  might  be  thus  aided,  should  be  "of 
a  general,  not  local ;  national,  not  state  character."  A 
disregard  of  this  distinction  would  of  necessity  lead  to 


MAYSTILLE    ROAD    VETO.  __       161 

the  subversion  of  the  federal  system.  That  even  this  is 
an  unsafe  one,  arbitrary  in  its  nature,  and  liable  conse- 
quently to  great  abuses,  is  too  obvious  to  require  the  con- 
firmation of  experience.  It  is,  however,  sufficiently  defi- 
nitive and  imperative  to  my  mind  to  forbid  my  approba- 
tion of  any  bill  having  the  character  of  the  one  under 
consideration.  I  have  given  to  its  provisions  all  the  re- 
flection demanded  by  a  just  regard  for  the  interests  of 
those  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  have  desired  its  passage, 
and  by  the  respect  which  is  due  to  a  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  government ;  but  I  am  not  able  to  view  it  in  any 
other  light  than  as  a  measure  of  purely  local  character  ; 
or,  if  it  can  be  considered  national,  that  no  further  dis- 
tinction between  the  appropriate  duties  of  the  general 
and  state  governments  need  be  attempted ;  for  there  can 
be  no  local  interest  that  may  not  with  equal  propriety  be 
denominated  national.  It  has  no  connection  with  any 
established  system  of  improvements :  is  exclusively  within 
the  limits  of  a  state,  starting  at  a  point  on  the  Ohio  river, 
and  running  out  sixty  miles  to  an  interior  town  ;  and  even 
so  far  as  the  state  is  interested,  conferring  partial,  instead 
of  general  advantages. 

Considering  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  pow- 
er, and  the  embarrassments  to  which,  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  thing,  its  exercise  must  necessarily  be  subjected, 
the  real  friends  of  internal  improvement  ought  not  to  be 
willing  to  confide  it  to  accident  and  chance.  What  is 
properly  national  in  its  character  or  otherwise,  is  an  in- 
quiry which  is  often  difficult  of  solution.  The  appropri- 
ations of  one  year,  for  an  object  which  is  considered  na- 
tional, may  be  rendered  nugatory  by  the  refusal  of  a  suc- 
ceeding Congress  to  continue  the  work,  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  local.  No  aid  can  be  derived  from  the  inter- 
vention of  corporations.  The  question  regards  the  cha- 
racter of  the  work,  not  that  of  those  by  whom  it  is  to  be 
accomplished.  Notwithstanding  the  union  of  the  govern- 
ment with  the  corporation,  by  whose  immediate  agency 
any  work  of  internal  improvement  is  carried  on,  the  in- 
quiry will  still  remain,  Is  it  national,  and  conducive  to 
the  benefit  of  the  whole,  or  local,  and  operating  only  ta 
the  advantage  of  a  portion  of  the  Union  ? 
14* 


162  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

But,  although  I  might  not  feel  it  to  be  my  official  duty 
to  interpose  the  executive  veto  to  the  passage  of  a  bill 
appropriating  money  for  the  construction  of  such  works 
a.s  are  authorized  by  the  states,  and  are  national  in  their 
character,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  expressing 
an  opinion  that  it  is  expedient  at  this  time,  for  the  gene- 
ral government  to  embark  in  a  system  of  this  kind  ;  and, 
anxious  that  my  constituents  should  be  possessed  of  my 
views  on  this  as  well  as  on  all  other  subjects  which  they 
have  committed  to  ray  discretion,  I  shall  state~them  frank- 
ly and  briefly.  Besides  many  minor  considerations,  there 
are  two  prominent  views  of  the  subject  which  I  think  are 
well  entitled  to  your  serious  attention,  and  will,  I  hope, 
be  maturely  weighed  by  the  people. 

From  the  official  communication  submitted  to  you,  it 
appears,  that  if  no  adverse  or  unforeseen  contingenc 
happens  in  our  foreign  relations,  and  no  unusual  diver- 
sion be  made  of  the  funds  set  apart  for  the  payment  ol 
the  national  debt,  we  may  look  with  confidence  to  its  en- 
tire extinguishment  in  the  short  period  of  four  years. 
The  extent  to  which  this  pleasing  anticipation  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  policy  which  may  be  pursued  in  relation  to 
measures  of  the  character  of  the  one  now  under  consi- 
deration, must  be  obvious  to  all,  and  equally  so  that  the 
events  .of  the  present  session  are  well  calculated  to  awa- 
ken public  solicitude  upon  the  subject.  By  the  statement 
from  the  Treasury  department,  and  those  from  the  clerks 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  herewith 
submitted,  it  appears  that  the  bills  which  have  passed  into 
laws,  and  those  which,  in  all  probability,  will  pass  before 
the  adjournment  of  Congress,  anticipate  appropriations 
which,  with  ordinary  expenditures  for  the  support  of  go- 
vernment, will  exceed  considerably  the  amount  in  the 
treasury  for  the  year  1830.  Thus,  whilst  we  are  dismiss- 
ing the  revenues  by  a  reduction  of  the  duties  on  tea,  cof- 
fee, and  cocoa,  the  appropriations  for  internal  improve- 
ment are  increasing  beyond  the  available  means  in  the 
treasury  ;  and  if  to  this  calculation  be  added  the  amounts 
contained  in  bills  which  are  pending  before  the  two  hou 
ses,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  ten  millions  of  dollars 
would  not  make  up  the  excess  over  the  treasury  receip,t*, 


MAiTSVlLLE    ROAD    VETO.  163 

unless  the  payment  of  the  national  debt  be  postponed, 
and  the  means  now  pledged  to  that  object  applied  to  those 
enumerated  in  these  bills.  Without  a  well-regulated  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvement,  this  exhausting  mode  of 
appropriation  is  not  likely  to  be  avoided,  and  the  plain 
consequence  must  be,  either  a  continuance  of  the  nation- 
al debt,  or  a  resort  to  additional  taxes. 

Although  many  of  the  states,  with  a  laudable  zeal,  ami 
under  the  influence  of  an  enlightened  policy,  are  succes- 
sively applying  their  separate  efforts  to  works  of  this  cha- 
racter, the  desire  to  enlist  the  aid  of  the  general  govern- 
ment in  the  construction  of  such  as,  from  their  nature, 
ought  to  devolve  upon  it,  and  to  which  the  means  of  the 
individual  states  are  inadequate,  is  both  rational  and  pa- 
triotic ;  and  if  that  desire  is  not  gratified  now,  it  does  not 
follow  that  it  never  will  be.  The  general  intelligence 
and  public  spirit  of  the  American  people  furnish  a  sure 
guarantee,  that,  at  the  proper  time,  this  policy  will  be 
made  to  prevail  under  circumstances  more  auspicious  to 
its  successful  prosecution  than  those  which  now  exist. 
But,  great  as  this  object  undoubtedly  is,  it  is  not  the  only 
one  which  demands  the  fostering  care  of  the  government. 
The  preservation  and  success  of  the  republican  principle 
rest  with  us.  To  elevate  its  character,  and  extend  its 
influence,  rank  among  our  most  important  duties ;  and 
the  best  means  to  accomplish  this  desirable  end,  are  those 
which  will  rivet  the  attachment  of  our  citizens  to  the 
government  of  their  choice,  by  the  comparative  lightness 
of  their  public  burdens,  and  by  the  attraction  which  the 
superior  success  of  its  operations  will  present  to  the  ad- 
miration and  respect  of  the  world.  Through  the  favor 
of  an  overruling  and  indulgent  Providence,  our  country 
is  blessed  with  general  prosperity,  and  our  citizens  ex- 
empted from  the  pressure  of  taxation  which  other  less 
favored  portions  of  the  human  family  are  obliged  to  bear  ; 
yet  it  is  true  that  many  of  the  taxes  collected  from  our 
citizens,  through  the  medium  of  imposts,  have,  for  a  con- 
siderable period,  been  onerous.  In  many  particulars, 
these  taxes  have  borne  severely  upon  the  laboring  and  less 
prosperous  classes  of  the  community,  being  imposed  on 
the  necessaries  of  life,  and  this,  too,  ia  cases  where  the 


164  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

burden  was  not  relieved  by  the  consciousness  that  it 
would  ultimately  contribute  to  make  us  independent  of 
foreign  nations  for  articles  of  prime  necessity,  by  the  en- 
couragement of  their  growth  and  manufacture  at  home. 
They  have  been  cheerfully  borne,  because  they  were 
thought  to  be  necessary  to  the  support  of  government, 
and  the  payment  of  the  debts  unavoidably  incurred  in  the 
acquisition  and  maintenance  of  our  national  rights  and 
liberties.  But  have  we  a  right  to  calculate  on  the  same 
cheerful  acquiescence,  when  it  is  known  that  the  necessi- 
ty for  their  continuance  would  cease,  were  it  not  for  ir- 
regular, improvident,  and  unequal  appropriations  of  the 
public  funds  ?  Will  not  the  people  demand,  as  they  have 
a  right  to  do,  such  a  prudent  system  of  expenditure  as 
will  pay  the  debts  of  the  Union,  and  authorize  the  reduc- 
tion of  every  tax  to  as  low  a  point  as  the  wise  observance 
of  the  necessity  to  protect  that  portion  of  our  manufac- 
tures and  labor,  whose  prosperity  is  essential  to  our  na- 
tional safety  and  independence,  will  allow  1  When  the 
national  de.bt  is  paid,  the  duties  upon  those  articles  which 
we  do  not  raise  may  be  repealed  with  safety,  and  still 
leave,  I  trust,  without  oppression  to  any  section  of  the 
'country,  an  accumulating  surplus  fund,  which  may  be 
beneficially  applied  to  some  well-digested  system  of  im- 
provement. 

Under  this  view,  the  question,  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  federal  government  can,  or  ought  to  embark  in  the 
construction  of  roads  and  canals,  and  the  extent  to  which 
it  may  impose  burdens  on  the  people  for  these,  purposes, 
may  be  presented  on  its  own  merits,  free  of  all  disguise, 
and  of  every  embarrassment  except  such  as  may  arise  from 
the  constitution  itself.  Assuming  these  suggestions  to  be 
correct,  will  not  our  citizens  require  the  observance  of  a 
course  by  which  they  can  be  effected  ?  Ought  they  not  to 
require  it  ?  With  the  best  disposition  to  aid,  as  far  as  I 
can  conscientiously,  in  the  furtherance  of  works  of  inter- 
nal improvement,  my  opinion  is,  that  the  soundest  views 
of  national  policy,  at  this  time,  point  to  such  a  course. 
Besides  the  avoidance  of  an  evil  influence  upon  the  local 
concerns  of  the  country,  how  solid  is  the  advantage  which 
the  government  will  reap  from  it  in  the  elevation  of  its 


MAYSVILLE    ROAD    VETO.  165 

character  !  How  gratifying  the  effect  of  presenting  to 
the  world  the  sublime  spectacle  of  a  republic,  of  more 
than  twelve  millions  of  happy  people,  in  the  fifty-fourth 
year  of  her  existence — after  having  passed  through  two 
protracted  wars,  the  one  for  the  acquisition,  and  the  other 
for  the  maintenance  of  liberty — free  from  debt,  and  with 
all  her  her  immense  resources  unfettered  !  What  a 
salutary  influence  would  not  such  an  exhibition  exercise 
upon  the  cause  of  liberal  principles  and  free  government 
throughout  the  world  !  Would  we  not  ourselves  find,  in 
its  effect,  an  additional  guarantee  that  our  political  insti- 
tutions will  be  transmitted  to  the  most  remote  posterity 
without  decay  1  A  course  of  policy  destined  to  witness 
events  like  these,  cannot  be  benefitted  by  a  legislation 
which  tolerates  a  scramble  for  appropriations  that  have  no 
relation  to  any  general  system  of  improvement,  and  whose 
good  effects  must  of  necessity  be  very  limited.  In  the 
best  view  of  these  appropriations,  the  abuses  to  which  they 
lead,  far  exceed  the  good  which  they  are  capable  of  pro- 
moting. They  may  be  resorted  to  as  artful  expedients  to 
shift  upon  the  government  the  losses  of  unsuccessful  pri- 
vate speculation,  and  thus,  by  ministering  to  personal  am- 
bition and  self-aggrandizement,  tend  to  sap  the  founda- 
tions of  public  virtue,  and  taint  the  administration  of  the 
government  with  a  demoralizing  influence. 

In  the  other  view  of  the  subject,  and  the  only  remain- 
ing one  which  it  is  my  intention  to  present  at  this  time, 
is  involved  the  expediency  of  embarking  in  a  system  of 
internal  improvement  without  a  previous  amendment  of 
the  constitution,  explaining  and  defining  the  precise  pow- 
ers of  the  federal  government  over  it.  Assuming  the 
right  to  appropriate  money  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
national  works,  to  be  warranted  by  the  contemporaneous 
and  continued  exposition  of  the  constitution,  its  insuffi- 
ciency for  the  successful  prosecution  of  them  must  be  ad- 
mitted by  all  candid  minds.  If  we  look  to  usage  to  de- 
fine the  extent  of  the  right,  that  will  be  found  so  variant, 
and  embracing  so  much  that  has  been  overruled,  as  to  in- 
volve the  whole  subject  in  great  uncertainty,  and  to  render 
the  execution  of  our  respective  duties  in  relation  to  it  re- 
plete with  difficulty  and  embarrassment.  It  is  in  regard 


166  THE    TUUE    AMERICAN. 

to  such  works  and  the  acquisition  of  additional  territory, 
that  the  practice  obtained  its  first  footing.  In  most,  if  not 
all  other  disputed  questions  of  appropriation,  the  construc- 
tion of  the  constitution  may  be  regarded  as  unsettled,  if 
the  right  to  apply  money,  in  the  enumerated  cases,  is 
placed  on  the  ground  of  usage. 

This  subject  has  been  of  much,  and,  I  may  add,  painful 
reflection  to  me.  It  has  bearings  that  are  well  calculated 
to  exert  a  powerful  influence  upon  our  hitherto  prosperous 
system  of  government,  and  which,  on  some  accounts,  may 
even  excite  despondency  in  the  breast  of  an  Americjin 
citizen.  I  will  not  detain  you  with  professions  of  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  internal  improvements.  If  to  be  their  friend 
is  a  virtue  which  deserves  commendation,  our  country  is 
blest  with  an  abundance  of  it;  for  I  do  not  suppose  there 
is  an  intelligent  citizen  who  does  not  wish  to  see  them 
flourish.  But  though  all  are  their  friends,  but  few,  I 
trust,  are  unmindful  of  the  means  by  which  they  should 
be  promoted ;  none  certainly  are  so  degenerate  as  to  de- 
sire their  success  at  the  cost  of  that  sacred  instrument, 
with  the  preservation  of  which  is  indissolubly  bound  our 
;  Country's  hopes.  If  different  impressions  are  entertained 
in  any  quarter ;  if  it  is  expected  that  the  people  of  this 
country,  reckless  of  their  constitutional  obligation,  will 
prefer  their  local  interest  to  the  principles  of  the  Union, 
such  expectations  will  in  the  end  be  disappointed ;  or,  if 
it  be  not  so,  then  indeed  has  the  world  but  little  to  hope 
from  the  example  of  a  free  government.  When  an  honest 
observance  of  constitutional  compacts  cannot  be  obtained 
from  communities  like  ours,  it  need  not  be  anticipated 
elsewhere ;  and  the  cause  in  which  there  has  been  so 
much  martyrdom,  and  from  which  so  much  was  expected 
by  the  friends  of  liberty,  may  be  abandoned,  and  the  de- 
grading truth,  that  man  is  unfit  for  self-government,  ad- 
mitted. And  this  will  be  the  case,  if  expediency  be  made 
a  rule  of  construction  in  interpreting  the  constitution. 
Power,  in  no  government,  could  desire  a  better  shield  for 
the  insidious  advances  which  is  ever  ready  to  make  up 
the  checks  that  are  designed  to  restrain  its  action. 

But  I  do  not  entertain  such  gloomy  apprehensions.  If 
it  be  the  wish  of  the  people  that  the  construction  of  roads 


MAYSVILLE    ROAD    VETO.  167 

and  canals  should  be  conducted  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment, it  is  not  only  highly  expedient,  but  indispensably 
necessary,  that  a  previous  amendment  of  the  constitution, 
delegating  the  necessary  power,  and  defining  and  restrict- 
ing its  exercise  with  reference  to  the  sovereignty  of  the 
states,  should  be  made.  Without  it,  nothing  extensively 
useful  can  be  effected.  The  right  to  exercise  as  much 
jurisdiction  as  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  works,  and  to 
raise  funds  by  the  collection  of  tolls  to  keep  them  in  re- 
pair, cannot  be  dispensed  with.  The  Cumberland  road 
should  be  an  instructive  admonition  of  the  consequences 
of  acting  without  this  right.  Year  after  year,  contests 
are  witnessed,  growing  out  of  efforts  to  obtain  the  neces- 
sary appropriations  for  completing  and  repairing  this  use- 
ful work.  Whilst  one  Congress  may  claim  and  exercise 
the  power,  a  succeeding  one  may  deny  it;  and  this  fluc- 
tuation of  opinion  must  be  unavoidably  fatal  to  any  scheme 
which,  from  its  extent,  would  promote  the  interests  and 
elevate  the  character  of  the  country.  The  experience  of 
the  past  has  shown  that  the  opinion  of  Congress  is  sub- 
ject to  such  fluctuations. 

If  it  be  the  desire  of  the  people  that  the  agency  of  the 
federal  government  should  be  confined  to  the  appropria- 
tion of  money  in  aid  of  such  undertakings,  in  virtue  of 
state  authorities,  then  the  occasion,  the  manner,  and  the 
extent  of  the  appropriations  should  be  made  the  subject 
of  constitutional  regulation.  This  is  the  more  necessary, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  equitable  among  the  several 
states ;  promote  harmony  between  different  sections  of 
the  Union  and  their  representatives  ;  preserve  other  parts 
of  the  constitution  from  being  undermined  by  the  exer- 
cise of  doubtful  powers,  or  the  too  great  extension  of 
those  which  are  not  so ;  arid  protect  the  whole  subject 
against  the  deleterious  influence  of  combinations  to  carry 
by  concert,  measures  which,  considered  by  themselves, 
might  meet  but  little  countenance.  That  a  constitutional 
adjustment  of  this  po.ver  upon  equitable  principles  is  in 
the  highest  degree  desirable,  can  scarcely  be  doubted; 
nor  can  it  fail  to  be  promoted  by  every  sincere  friend  to 
the  success  of  our  political  institutions.  In  no  govern- 
ment are  appeals  to  the  source  of  power  in  cases  of  real 


168  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

doubt  more  suitable  than  in  ours.  No  good  motive  can 
be  assigned  for  the  exercise  of  power  by  the  constituted 
authorities,  while  those  for  whose  benefit  it  is  to  be  exer- 
cised have  not  conferred  it,  and  may  not  be  willing  to 
confer  it.  It  would  seem  to  me  that  an  honest  application 
of  the  conceded  powers  of  the  general  government  to  the 
advancement  of  the  common  weal,  presents  a  sufficient 
scope  to  satisfy  a  reasonable  ambition.  The  difficulty  and 
supposed  impracticability  of  obtaining  an  amendment  of 
the  constitution  in  this  respect  is,  I  firmly  believe,  in  a 
great  degree  unfounded.  The  time  has  never  yet  been 
when  the  patriotism  and  intelligence  of  the  American 
people  were  not  fully  equal  to  the  greatest  exigency ;  and 
it  never  will,  when  the  subject  calling  forth  their  interpo- 
sition is  plainly  presented  to  them.  To  do  so  with  the 
questions  involved  in  this  bill, -and  to  urge  them  to  an 
early,  zealous  and  full  consideration  of  their  deep  impor- 
tance, is  in  my  estimation  among  the  highest  of  our 
duties. 

A  supposed  connection  between  appropriations  for  in- 
ternal improvement  and  the  system  of  protecting  duties, 
growing  out  of  the  anxieties  of  those  more  immediately 
interested  in  their  success,  has  given  rise  to  suggestions 
which  it  is  proper  I  should  notice  on  this  occasion.  My 
opinions  on  these  subjects  have  never  been  concealed 
from  those  who  had  a  right  to  know  them.  Those 
which  I  have  entertained  on  the  latter  have  frequently 
placed  me  in  opposition  to  individuals,  as  well  as  commu- 
nities, whose  claims  upon  my  friendship  and  gratitude  are 
of  the  strongest  character ;  but  I  trust  there  has  been 
nothing  in  my  public  life  which  has  exposed  me  to  the 
suspicion  of  being  thought  capable  of  sacrificing  my 
views  of  duty  to  private  considerations,  however  strong 
they  may  have  been,  or  deep  the  regrets  which  they  are 
capable  of  exciting. 

As  long  as  the  encouragement  of  domestic  manufac- 
tures is  directed  to  national  ends,  it  shall  receive  from  me 
a  temperate  but  steady  support.  There  is  no  necessary 
connection  between  it  and  the  system  of  appropriations. 
On  the  contrary,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  supposition  of 
their  dependence  upon  each  other  is  calculated  to  excite 


BANK    VETO.  169 

the  prejudices  of  the  public  against  both.  The  former  is 
sustained  on  the  grounds  of  its  consistency  with  the  let- 
ter and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  of  its  origin  being 
traced  to  the  assent  of  all  the  parties  to  the  original  com- 
pact, and  of  its  having  the  support  and  approbation  of  a 
majority  of  the  people ;  on  which  account  it  is  at  least 
entitled  to  a  fair  experiment.  The  suggestions  to  which 
I  have  alluded,  refer  to  a  forced  continuance  of  the  na- 
tional debt,  by  means  of  large  appropriations,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  security  which  the  system  derives  from  the 
principles  on  which  it  has  hitherto  been  sustained.  Such 
a  course  would  certainly  indicate  either  an  unreasonable 
distrust  of  the  people,  or  a  consciousness  that  the  system 
does  not  possess  sufficient  soundness  for  its  support,  if 
left  to  their  voluntary  choice  and  its  own  merits.  Those 
who  suppose  that  any  policy  thus  founded  can  be  long 
upheld  in  this  country,  have  looked  upon  its  history  with 
eyes  very  different  from  mine.  This  policy,  like  every 
other,  must  abide  the  will  of  the  people,  who  will  not  be 
likely  to  allow  any  device,  however  specious,  to  conceal 
its  character  and  tendency. 

In  presenting  these  opinions,  I  have  spoken  with  the 
freedom  and  candor  which  I  thought  the  occasion  for 
their  expression  called  for  ;  and  now  respectfully  return 
the  bill  which  has  been  under  consideration,  for  your  fur- 
ther deliberation  and  judgment. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


BANK   VETO, 
JULY  10,  1832. 

To  the  Senate  : 

The  bill  to  "  modify  and  continue"  the  act  entitled" 
"  An  act  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,"  was  presented  to  me  on  the  4th  of 
July  instant.  Having  considered  it  with  that  solemn  re- 
gard to  the  principles  of  the  constitution  which  the,  day 
15 


170  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

was  calculated  to  inspire,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  ought  not  to  become  a  law,  I  herewith  return  it  to  the 
Senate,  in  which  it  originated,  with  my  objections. 

A  bank  of  the  United  States  is  in  many  respects  con- 
venient for  the  government  and  useful  to  the  people. 
Entertaining  this  opinion,  and  deeply  impressed  with  the 
belief  that  some  of  the  powers  and  privileges  possessed 
by  the  existing  bank  are  unauthorized  by  the  constitu- 
tion, subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  states,  and  dangerous 
to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  at  an  early 
period  of  my  administration,  to  call  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress to  the  practicability  of  organizing  an  institution  com- 
bining all  its  advantages,  and  obviating  these  objections. 
I  sincerely  regret,  that  in  the  act  before  me,  I  can  per- 
ceive none  of  those  modifications  of  the  bank  charter 
which  are  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  to  make  it  compati- 
ble with  justice,  with  sound  policy,  or  with  the  constitu- 
tion of  our  country. 

The  present  corporate  body,  denominated  the  Presi- 
dent, Directors,  and  Company  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  will  have  existed,  at  the  time  this  act  is  intended 
to  take  effect,  twenty  years.  It  enjoys  an  exclusive  pri- 
vilege of  banking,  under  the  authority  of  the  general 
government,  a  monopoly  of  its  favor  and  support,  and,  as 
a  necessary  consequence,  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  fo- 
reign and  domestic  exchange.  The  powers,  privileges, 
and  favors  bestowed  upon  it,  in  the  original  charter,  by 
increasing  the  value  of  the  stock  far  above  its  par  value, 
operated  as  a  gratuity  of  many  millions  to  the  stock- 
holders. 

An  apology  may  be  found  for  the  failure  to  guard  against 
this  result,  in  the  consideration  that  the  effect  of  the  origi- 
nal act  of  incorporation  could  not  be  certainly  foreseen  at 
the  time  of  its  passage.  The  act  before  me  proposes  ano- 
ther gratuity  to  the  holders  of  the  same  stock,  and,  in  many 
cases,  to  the  same  men,  of  at  least  seven  millions  more. 
This  donation  finds  no  apology  in  any  uncertainty  as  to 
the  effect  of  the  act.  On  all  hands  it  is  conceded  that 
its  passage  will  increase,  at  least,  twenty  or  thirty  per  cent, 
more,  the  market  price  of  the  stock,  subject  to  the  pay 
merit  of  the  annuity  of  $200,000  per  year  secured  by  the 


BANK   VETO.  171 

act ;  thus  adding,  in  a  moment,  one  fourth  to  its  par  value. 
It  is  not  our  own  citizens  only  who  are  to  receive  the 
bounty  of  our  government.  More  than  eight  millions  of 
the  stock  of  this  bank  are  held  by  foreigners.  By  this  act, 
the  American  republic  proposes  virtually  to  make  them  a 
present  of  some  millions  of  dollars.  For  these  gratuities 
to  foreigners,  and  to  some  of  our  own  opulent  citizens, 
the  act  secures  no  equivalent  whatever.  They  are  the 
certain  gains  of  the  present  stockholders  under  the  opera- 
tion of  this  act,  after  making  full  allowance  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  bonus. 

Every  monopoly,  and  all  exclusive  privileges  are  grant- 
ed at  the  expense  of  the  public,  which  ought  to  receive  a 
fair  equivalent.  The  many  millions  which  this  act  pro- 
poses to  bestow  on  the  stockholders  of  the  existing  bank, 
must  come  directly  or  indirectly  out  of  the  earnings  of 
the  American  people.  It  is  due  to  them,  therefore,  if 
their  government  sell  monopolies  and  exclusive  privileges, 
that  they  should  at  least  exact  for  them  as  much  as  they 
are  worth  in  open  market.  The  value  of  the  monopoly 
in  this  case  may  be  correctly  ascertained.  The  twenty- 
eight  millions  of  stock  would  probably  be  at  an  advance 
of  fifty  per  cent.,  and  command  in  the  market  at  least 
forty-two  millions  of  dollars,  subject  to  the  payment  of 
the  present  bonus.  The  present  value  of  the  monopoly, 
therefore,  is  seventeen  millions  of  dollars,  and  this  act 
proposes  to  sell  for  three  millions,  payable  in  fifteen  annual 
instalments  of  $200,000  each. 

It  is  not  conceivable  how  the  present  stockholders  can 
have  any  claim  to  the  special  favor  of  the  government. 
The  present  corporation  has  enjoyed  its  monopoly  during 
the  period  stipulated  in  the  original  contract.  If  we  must 
have  such  a  corporation,  why  should  not  the  government 
sell  out  the  whole  stock,  and  thus  secure  to  the  people 
the  full  market  value  of  the  privileges  granted?  Why 
should  not  Congress  create  and  sell  twenty-eight  millions 
of  stock,  incorporating  the  purchasers  with  all  the  powers 
and  privileges  secured  in  this  act,  and  put  the  premium 
upon  the  sales  into  the  treasury  ? 

But  this  act  does  not  permit  competition  in  the  pur- 
chase of  this  monopoly.  It  seems  to  me  predicated  on 


172  THE    TKCE    AMERICAN. 

the  erroneous  idea  that  the  present  stockholders  have  a 
prescriptive  right  not  only  to  the  favor,  but  to  the  boun- 
ty of  government.  It  appears  that  more  than  a  fourth 
part  of  the  stock  is  held  by  foreigners,  and  the  residue  is 
held  by  a  few  hundred  of  our  own  citizens,  chiefly  of  the 
richest  class.  For  their  benefit  does  this  act  exclude  the 
whole  American  people  from  competition  in  the  purchase 
of  this  monopoly,  and  dispose  of  it  for  many  millions  less 
than  it  is  worth.  This  seems  the  less  excusable,  because 
some  of  our  citizens,  not  now  stockholders,  petitioned 
that  the  door  of  competition  might  be  opened,  and  offered 
to  take  a  charter  on  terms  much  more  favorable  to  the 
government  and  country. 

But  this  proposition,  although  made  by  men  whose 
aggregate  wealth  is  believed  to  be  equal  to  all  the  private 
stock  in  the  existing  bank,  has  been  set  aside,  and  the 
bounty  of  our  government  is  proposed  to  be  again  be- 
stowed on  the  few  who  have  been  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  the  stock,  and  at  this  moment  wield  the  power  of 
the  existing  institution.  I  cannot  perceive  the  justice  or 
policy  of  this  course.  If  our  government  must  sell  mo- 
nopolies, it  would  seem  to  be  its  duty  to  take  nothing  less 
than  their  full  value;  and  if  gratuities  must  be  made  once 
in  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  let  them  not  be  bestowed  on 
the  subjects  of  a  foreign  government,  nor  upon  a  desig- 
nated and  favored  class  of  men  in  our  own  country.  It 
is  but  justice  and  good  policy,  as  far  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  will  admit,  to  confine  our  favors  to  our  own  fellow- 
citizens,  and  let  each  in  his  turn  enjoy  an  opportunity  to 
profit  by  our  bounty.  In  the  bearings  of  the  act  before 
me,  upon  these  points,  I  find  ample  reasons  why  it  should 
not  become  a  law. 

It  has  been  urged  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  rechar- 
tering  the  present  bank,  that  the  calling  in  its  loans  will 
produce  great  embarrassment  and  distress.  The  time 
allowed  to  close  its  concerns  is  ample ;  and  if  it  has  been 
well  managed,  its  pressure  will  be  light,  and  heavy  onlj 
in  case  its  management  has  been  bad.  If,  therefore,  it 
shall  produce  distress,  the  fault  will  be  its  own ;  and  it 
would  furnish  a  reason  against  renewing  a  power  which 
has  been  so  obviously  abused.  But  will  there  ever  be  a 


BANK    VETO.  173 

time  when  this  reason  will  be  less  powerful  ?  To  acknow- 
ledge its  force,  is  to  admit  that  the  bank  ought  to  be  per- 
petual ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  present  stockholders, 
and  those  inheriting  their  rights  as  successors,  be  esta- 
blished a  privileged  order,  clothed  both  with  great  politi- 
cal power,  and  enjoying  immense  pecuniary  advantages 
from  their  connection  with  the  government. 

The  modifications  of  the  existing  charter,  proposed  by 
this  act,  are  not  such,  in  my  view,  as  make  it  consistent 
with  the  rights  of  the  states  or  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
The  qualification  of  the  right  of  the  bank  to  hold  real 
estate,  the  limitation  of  its  power  to  establish  branches, 
and  the  power  reserved  to  Congress  to  forbid  the  cir- 
culation of  small  notes,  are  restrictions  comparatively  of 
little  value  or  importance.  All  the  objectionable  princi- 
ples of  the  existing  corporation,  and  most  of  its  odious 
features,  are  retained  without  alleviation. 

The  fourth  section  provides  "  that  the  notes  or  bills  of 
the  said  corporation,  although  the  same  be  on  the  faces 
thereof,  respectively,  made  payable  at  one  place  only, 
shall,  nevertheless,  be  received  by  the  said  corporation  at 
the  bank,  or  at  any  of  the  offices  of  discount  and  depo- 
sit thereof,  if  tendered  in  liquidation  or  payment  of  any 
balance  or  balances  due  to  said  corporation,  or  to  such 
office  of  discount  and  deposit,  from  any  other  incorpo- 
rated bank."  This  provision  secures  to  the  state  banks 
a  legal  privilege  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which 
is  withheld  from  all  private  citizens.  If  a  state  bank  in 
Philadelphia  owe  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  have 
notes  issued  by  the  St.  Louis  branch,  it  can  pay  the  debt 
with  those  notes ;  but  if  a  merchant,  mechanic  or  other 
private  citizen  be  in  like  circumstances,  he  cannot,  by  law, 
pay  his  debts  with  those  notes ;  but  must  sell  them  at  a  dis- 
count, or  send  them  to  St.  Louis  to  be  cashed.  This  boon 
conceded  to  the  state  banks,  though  not  unjust  in  itself, 
is  most  odious ;  because  it  does  not  measure  out  equal 
justice  to  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor. 
To  the  extent  of  its  practical  effect,  it  is  a  bond  of  union, 
among  the  banking  establishments  of  the  nation,  erecting 
them  into  an  interest  separate  from  that  of  the  people ; 
and  its  necessary  tendency  is  to  unite  the  Bank  of  the 
15* 


174  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

United  States  ana  the  state  banks  in  any  measure  which 
may  be  thought  conducive  to  their  common  interest. 

The  ninth  section  of  the  act  recognizes  principles  of 
worse  tendency  than  any  provision  of  the  present  charter. 

It  enacts  that  "  the  cashier  of  the  bank  shall  annually 
report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  names  of  all 
the  stockholders  who  are  not  resident  citizens  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  ;  and,  on  the  application  of  the  treasurer  of  any 
state,  shall  make  out  and  transmit  to  such  treasurer  a  list 
of  stockholders  residing  in,  or  citizens  of  such  state, 
with  the  amount  of  stock  owned  by  each."  Although 
this  provision,  taken  in  connection  with  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  surrenders,  by  its  silence,  the  right  of 
the  states  to  tax  the  banking  institutions  created  by  this 
corporation,  under  the  name  of  branches,  throughout  the 
Union,  it  is  evidently  intended  to  be  construed  as  a  con- 
cession of  their  right  to  tax  that  portion  of  the  stock 
which  may  be  held  by  their  own  citizens  and  residents. 
In  this  light,  if  the  act  becomes  a  law,  it  will  be  under- 
stood by  the  states,  who  will  probably  proceed  to  levy  a 
tax  equal  to  that  paid  upon  the  stock  of  the  banks  incor- 
porated by  themselves.  In  some  states  that  tax  is  now 
one  per  cent,  either  on  the  capital  or  on  the  shares,  and 
that  may  be  assumed  as  the  amount  which  all  citizens  or 
resident  stockholders  would  be  taxed  under  the  operation 
of  this  act.  As  it  is  only  the  stock  held  in  trie  states, 
and  not  that  employed  between  them,  which  would  be 
subject  to  taxation,  and  as  the  names  of  foreign  stock- 
holders are  not  to  be  reported  to  the  treasurers  of  the 
states,  it  is  obvious  that  the  stock  held  by  them  will  be 
exempt  from  this  burden.  Their  annual  profits  will, 
therefore,  be  one  per  cent,  more  than  the  citizen  stock- 
holders ;  and,  as,  the  annual  dividends  of  the  bank  may 
be  safely  estimated  at  seven  per  cent.,  the  stock  will  be 
worth  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent,  more  to  foreigners  than  to 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  To  appreciate  the  effect 
which  this  state  of  things  will  produce,  we  must  take  a 
brief  review  of  the  operations  and  present  condition  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

By  documents  submitted  to  Congress  at  the  present 
session,  it  appears  that  on  the  1st  of  Janur.ry,  1832,  of 


BANK    VETO.  175 

the  twenty-eight  millions  of  private  stock  in  the  corpora- 
tion, $8,405,500  were  held  by  foreigners,  mostly  of  Great 
Britain.  The  amount  of  stock  held  in  the  nine  western 
and  south-western  states,  is  $140,200,  and  in  the  four 
southern  states,  is  $5,623,100,  and  in  the  middle  and  east- 
ern states,  is  about  $13,522,000.  The  profits  of  the  bank 
in  1831,  as  shown  in  a  statement  to  Congress,  were  about 
$3,455,598 ;  of  this,  there  accrued  in  the  nine  western 
states,  about  $1,640,048;  in  the  four  southern  states, 
about  $352,507 ;  and  in  the  middle  and  eastern  states, 
about  $1,463,041  As  little  stock  is  held  in  the  west,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  debt  of  the  people  in  that  section,  to  the 
bank,  is  principally  a  debt  to  the  eastern  and  foreign 
stockholders ;  that  the  interest  they  pay  upon  it,  is  car- 
ried into  the  eastern  states,  and  into  Europe  ;  and  that  it 
is  a  burden  upon  their  industry,  and  a.  drain  of  their  cur- 
rency, which  no  country  can  bear  without  inconvenience 
and  occasional  distress.  To  meet  this  burden,  and 
equalize  the  exchange  operations  of  the  bank,  the  amount 
of  specie  drawn  from  those  states,  through  its  branches, 
within  the  last  two  years,  as  shown  by  its  official  reports, 
was  about  $6,000,000.  More  Jhan  half  a  million  of  this 
amount  does  not  stop  in  the  eastern  states,  but  passes  on 
to  Europe,  to  pay  the  dividends  of  the  foreign  stockhold- 
ers. In  the  principle  of  taxation  recognized  by  this  act, 
the  western  states  find  no  adequate  compensation  for  this 
perpetual  burden  on  their  industry,  and  drain  of  their 
currency.  The  branch  bank  at  Mobile  made  last  year, 
$95,140;  yet  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  state 
of  Alabama  can  raise  no  revenue  from  these  profitable 
operations,  because  not  a  share  of  the  stock  is  held  by 
any  of  her  citizens.  Mississippi  and  Missouri  are  in  the 
same  condition,  in  relation  to  the  branches  at  Natchez 
and  St.  Louis ;  and  such,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  is 
the  condition  of  every  western  state.  The  tendency  of 
the  plan  of  taxation  which  this  act  proposes,  will  be  to 
place  the  whole  United  States  in  the  same  relation  to  fo- 
reign countries  which  the  western  states  now  bear  to  the 
eastern.  When,  by  a  tax  on  resident  stockholders,  the 
stock  of  this  bank  is  made  worth  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent, 
more  to  foreigners  than  to  residents,  most  of  it  will  inevi- 
dently  leave  the  country. 


176  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN*. 

Thus  will  this  provision,  in  its  practical  effect,  deprive 
the  eastern  as  well  as  the  southern  and  western  states,  of 
the  means  of  raising  a  revenue  from  the  extension  of 
business  and  great  profits  of  the  institution.  It  will  make 
the  American  people  debtors  to  aliens,  in  nearly  the  whole 
amount  due  to  this  bank,  and  send  across  the  Atlantic 
from  two  to  five  millions  of  specie  every  year  to  pay  the 
hank  dividends. 

In  another  of  its  bearings  this  provision  is  fraught  with 
danger.  Of  the  twenty-five  directors  of  this  bank,  five 
are  chosen  by  the  government,  and  twenty  by  the  citizen 
stockholders.  From  all  voice  in  these  elections,  the  fo- 
rc-iirn  stockholders  are  excluded  by  the  charter.  In  pro- 
portion, therefore,  as  the  stock  is  transferred  to  foreign 
holders,  the  extent  of  suffrage  in  the  choice  of  directors 
i^  curtailed. 

Already  is  almost  a  third  of  the  stock  in  foreign  hands, 
and  not  represented  in  elections.  It  is  constantly  passing 
out  of  the  country ;  and  this  act  will  accelerate  its  de- 
parture. The  entire  control  of  the  institution  would 
necessarily  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  few  citizen  stock- 
holders; and  the  ease  with  which  the  object  would  be 
accomplished,  would  be  a  temptation  to  designing  men 
to  secure  that  control  in  their  own  hands,  by  monopoli- 
•/.ing  the  remaining  stock.  There  is  danger  that  a  pre- 
sident and  directors  would  then  be  able  to  elect  them- 
selves from  year  to  year,  and,  without  responsibility  or 
control,  manage  the  whole  concerns  of  the  bank  during 
the  existence  of  its  charter.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  that 
great  evils  to  our  country  and  its  institutions  might  flow 
from  such  a  concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  men,  irresponsible  to  the  people. 

Is  there  no  danger  to  our  liberty  and  independence  in 
a  bank,  that  in  its.  nature  has  so  little  to  bind  it  to  our 
country  ?  The  president  of  the  bank  has  told  us  that 
most  of  the  state  banks  exist  by  its  forbearance.  Should 
its  influence  become  concentred,  as  it  may  under  the 
operation  of  such  an  act  as  this,  in  the  hands  of  a  self- 
elected  directory,  whose  interests  are  identified  with  those 
of  the  foreign  stockholder,  will  there  not  be  cause  to 
tremble  for  the  purity  of  our  elections  in  peace,  and  for 


BANK    VETO.  177 

the  independence  of  our  country  in  war  ?  Their  power 
would  be  great  whenever  they  might  choose  to  exert  it  ; 
but  if  this  monopoly  were  regularly  renewed  every  fifteen 
or  twenty  years,  on  terms  proposed  by  themselves,  they 
might  seldom  in  peace  put  forth  their  strength  to  influ- 
ence elections  or  control  the  affairs  of  the  nation.  But 
if  any  private,  citizen  or  public  functionary  should  inter- 
pose to  curtail  its  powers,  or  prevent  a  renewal  of  its  pri- 
vileges, it  cannot  be  doubted  that  he  would  be  made  to 
feel  its  influence 

Should  the  stock  of  the  bank  principally  pass  into  the 
hands  of  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  country,  and  we  should 
unfortunately  become  involved  in  a  war  with  that  coun- 
try, what  would  l>e  our  condition  1  Of  the  course  which 
would  be  pursued  by  a  bank  almost  wholly  owned  by  the 
subjects  of  a  foreign  power,  and  managed  by  those  whose 
interests,  if  not  affections,  would  run  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, there  can  be  no  doubt.  All  its  operations  within, 
would  be  in  aid  of  the  hostile  fleets  and  armies  without. 
Controlling  our  currency,  receiving  our  public  moneys, 
and  holding  thousands  of  our  citizens  in  dependence,  it 
would  be  more  formidable  and  dangerous  than  the  naval 
and  military  power  of  the  enemy. 

If  we  must  have  a  bank  with  private  stockholders, 
every  consideration  of  sound  policy,  and  every  impulse 
of  American  feeling,  admonishes  that  it  should  be  purely 
American.  Its  stockholders  should  be  composed  exclu- 
sively of  our  own  citizens,  who  at  least  ought  to  be  friend- 
ly to  our  government,  and  willing  to  support  it  in  times 
of  difficulty  and  danger.  So  abundant  is  domestic  capi- 
tal, that  competition  in  subscribing  for  the  stock  of  local 
banks  has  recently  led  almost  to  riots.  To  a  bank  exclu- 
sively of  American  stockholders,  possessing  the  powers 
and  privileges  granted  by  this  act,  subscriptions  for  two 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  could  be  readily  obtained.  In- 
stead of  sending  abroad  the  stock  of  the  bank  in  which 
the  government  must  deposit  its  funds,  and  on  which  it 
must  rely  to  sustain  its  credit  in  times  of  emergency,  it 
would  rather  seem  to  be  expedient  to  prohibit  its  sale  to 
aliens  under  penalty  of  absolute  forfeiture. 

It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  that  its 


178  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

constitutionality,  in  all  its  features,  ought  to  be  consi 
dered  as  settled  by  precedent,  and  by  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  To  this  conclusion  I  cannot  assent. 
Mere  precedent  is  a  dangerous  source  of  authority,  and 
should  not  be  regarded  as  deciding  questions  of  constitu- 
tional power,  except  where  the  acquiescence  of  the  peo- 
ple and  the  states  can  be  considered  as  well  settled.  So 
far  from  this  being  the  case  on  this  subject,  an  argument 
against  the  bank  might  be  based  on  precedent.  One 
Congress,  in  1791,  decided  in  favor  of  a  bank  ;  another, 
in  1811,  decided  against  it.  One  Congress,  in  1815,  de- 
cided against  a  bank  ;  another,  in  1816,  decided  in  its 
favor.  Prior  to  the  present  Congress,  therefore,  the  pre- 
cedents drawn  from  that  source  were  equal.  If  we  re- 
sort to  the  states,  the  expressions  of  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  opinions  against  the  bank  have  been  pro- 
bably to  those  in  its  favor  as  four  to  one.  There  is  no- 
thing in  precedent,  therefore,  which,  if  its  authority 
were  admitted,  ought  to,  weigh  in  favor  of  the  act  before 
me. 

If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered  the  whole 
ground  of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to  control  the  co-ordinate 
authorities  of  this  government.  The  Congress,  the  ex- 
ecutive, and  the  court,  must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by 
its  own  opinion  of  the  constitution.  Each  public  officer 
who  takes  an  oath  to  support  the  eonstitution,  swears 
that  he  will  support  it  as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it 
is  understood  by  others.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  Pre- 
sident, to  decide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any  bill  or 
resolution  which  may  be  presented  to  them  for  passage 
or  approval,  as  it  is  of  the  supreme  judges  when  it  may 
l>e  brought  before  them  for  judicial  decision.  The  opi- 
nion of  the  judges  has  no  more  authority  over  Congress 
than  the  opinion  of  Congress  has  over  the  judges ;  and 
on  that  point  the  President  is  independent  of  both.  The 
authority  of  the  Supreme  Court  must  not,  therefore,  be 
permitted  to  control  the  Congress  or  the  Executive,  when 
acting  in  their  legislative  capacities,  but  to  have  only 
such  influence  as  the  force  of  their  reasoning  may  de- 
serve. 


BANK    VETO.  179 

But  in  the  case  relied  upon,  the  Supreme  Court  have 
not  decided  that  all  the  features  of  this  corporation  are 
compatible  with  the  constitution.  It  is  true  that  the  court 
have  said  that  the  law  incorporating  the  bank  is  a  consti- 
tutional exercise  of  power  by  Congress.  But  taking  into 
view  the  whole  opinion  of  the  court,  and  the  reasoning 
by  which  they  have  come  to  that  conclusion,  I  under- 
stand them  to  have  decided  that,  inasmuch  as  a  bank  is 
an  appropriate  means  for  carrying  into  effect  the  enume- 
rated powers  of  the  general  government,  therefore  the 
law  incorporating  it  is  in  accordance  with  that  provision 
of  the  constitution  which  declares  that  Congress  shall 
have  power  "  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary 
and  proper  for  carrying  those  powers  into  execution." 
Having  satisfied  themselves  that  the  word  "  necessary"  in 
the  constitution,  means  "  needful,"  "  requisite"  "  essen- 

§tial"  "  conducive  to,"  and  that  "  a  bank"  is  a  conve- 
nient, a  useful,  and  essential  instrument  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  government's  "  fiscal  operations,"  they  con- 
clude that  "  to  use  one  must  be  in  the  discretion  of  Con- 
gress," and  that  "  the  act  to  incorporate  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  is  a  law  made  in  pursuance  of  the  constitu- 
tion ;"  "  but,"  say  they,  "  where  the  law  is  not  prohibit- 
sd,  and  is  really  calculated  to  effect  any  of  the  objects 
entrusted  to  the  government,  to  undertake  here  to  inquire 
into  the  degree  of  its  necessity,  would  be  to  pass  the  line 
v  hich  circumscribes  the  judicial  department,  and  to  tread 
on  legislative  ground." 

The  principle  here  affirmed  is,  that  the  "  degree  of  its 
necessity,"  involving  all  the  details  of  a  banking  institu- 
tion, is  a  question  exclusively  for  legislative  considera- 
tion. A  bank  is  constitutional ;  but  it  is  the  province  of 
the  legislature  to  determine  whether  this  or  that  particu- 
lar power,  privilege,  or  exemption,  "  is  necessary  and 
proper"  to  enable  the  bank  to  discharge  its  duties  to  the 
government ;  and  from  their  decision  there  is  no  appeal 
to  the  courts  of  justice.  Under  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  therefore,  it  is  the  exclusive  province  of 
Congress  and  the  President  to  decide  whether  the  parti- 
cular features  of  this  act  are  necessary  and  proper,  in 
order  to  enable  the  bank  to  perform  conveniently  and  ef- 


180  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ficiently  the  public  duties  assigned  to  it  as  a  fiscal  agent, 
and  therefore  constitutional  ;  or  unnecessary  and  impro- 
per, and  therefore  unconstitutional.  Without  comment- 
ing on  the  general  principle  affirmed  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  let  us  examine  the  details  of  this  act  in  accordance 
with  the  rule  of  legislative  action  which  they  have  laid 
down.  It  will  be  found  that  many  of  the  powers  and 
privileges  conferred  on  it,  cannot  be  supposed  necessary 
for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  proposed  to  be  created, 
and  are  not,  therefore,  means  necessary  to  attain  the  end 
in  view,  and  consequently  not  justified  by  the  consti- 
tution. 

The  original  act  of  incorporation,  section  21st,  enacts, 
"  that  no  other  bank  shall  be  established,  by  any  future 
law  of  the  United  States,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
corporation  hereby  created,  for  which  the  faith  of  the 
United  States  is  hereby  pledged ;  Provided,  Congress 
may  renew  existing  charters  for  banks  within  the  District 
of  Columbia,  not  increasing  the  capital  thereof;  and  may 
also  establish  any  other  bank  or  banks  in  said  district, 
with  capitals  not  exceeding  in  the  whole  six  millions  of 
dollars,  if  they  shall  deem  it  expedient."  This  provision 
is  continued  in  force  by  the  act  before  me,  fifteen  years 
from  the  3d  of  March,  1836. 

If  Congress  possessed  the  power  to  establish  one  bank, 
they  had  power  to  establish  more  than  one,  if,  in  their 
opinion,  two  or  more  banks  had  been  "  necessary"  to  fa- 
cilitate the  execution  of  the  powers  delegated  to  them  in 
the  constitution.  If  they  possess  the  power  to  establish 
a  second  bank,  it  was  a  power  derived  from  the  constitu- 
tion, to  be  exercised  from  time  to  time,  and  at  any  time 
when  the  interests  of  the  country  or  the  emergencies  of 
the  government  might  make  it  expedient.  It  was  pos- 
sessed by  one  Congress  as  well  as  another,  and  by  all 
Congresses  alike,  and  alike  at  every  session.  But  the 
Congress  of  1816  have  taken  it  away  from  their  success- 
ors for  twenty  years,  and  the  Congress  of  1832  proposed 
to  abolish  it  for  fifteen  years  more.  It  cannot  be  "  nrcrt- 
sary"  or  "proper"  for  Congress  to  barter  away,  or  divest 
themselves  of  any  of  the  powers  vested  in  them  by  the 
constitution  to  be  exercised  for  the  public  good.  It  is 


BANK    VETO.  181 

not  "  necessary"  to  the  efficiency  of  the  bank,  nor  is  it 
"proper"  in  relation  to  themselves  and  their  successors. 
They  may  "properly"  use  the  discretion  vested  in  them, 
but  they  may  not  limit  the  discretion  of  their  successors. 
This  restriction  on  themselves,  and  grant  of  a  monopoly 
to  the  bank,  is  therefore  unconstitutional. 

In  another  point  of  view,  this  provision  is  a  palpable 
attempt  to  amend  the  constitution  by  an  act  of  legislation. 
The  constitution  declares  that  "  the  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  .all  cases  what- 
soever," over  the  District  of  Columbia.  Its  constitutional 
power,  therefore,  to  establish  banks  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  increase  their  capital  at  will,  is  unlimited 
and  uncontrollable  by  any  other  power  than  that  which 
gave  authority  to  the  constitution.  Yet  this  act  declares 
that  Congress  shall  not  increase  the  capital  of  existing 
banks,  nor  create  other  banks  with  capitals  exceeding  in 
the  whole  six  millions  of  dollars.  The  constitution  de- 
clares that  Congress  shall  have  power  to  exercise  exclu- 
sive legislation  over  this  district  "  in  all  cases  whatsoever ;" 
and  this  act  declares  they  shall  not.  Which  is  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land?  This  provision  cannot  be  "necessary," 
or  "proper  ,"  or  "constitutional,"  unless  the  absurdity  be 
admitted,  that,  whenever  it  be  "necessary  and  proper," 
in  the  opinion  of  Congress,  they  have  a  right  to  barter 
away  one  portion  of  the  powers  vested  in  them  by  the 
constitution,  as  a  means  of  executing  the  rest. 

On  two  subjects  only,  does  the  constitution  recognize 
in  Congress  the  power  to  grant  exclusive  privileges  or 
monopolies.  It  declares  that  "Congress  shall  have  pow- 
er to  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts  by 
securing,  for  limited  times,  to  authors  and  inventors  the 
exclusive  right  to  their  respective  writings  and  discove- 
ries." 

Out  of  this  express  delegation  of  power,  have  grown 
our  laws  of  patents  and  copy-rights.  As  the  constitution 
expressly  delegates  to  Congress  the  power  to  grant  exclu- 
sive privileges,  in  these  cases,  as  the  means  of  executing 
the  substantive  power  "  to  promote  the  progress  of  sci- 
ence arid  useful  arts,"  it  is  consistent  with  the  fair  rules 
of  construction,  to  conclude  that  such  a  power  was  not 
16 


182  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

intended  to  be  granted  as  a  means  of  accomplishing  any 
other  end.  On  every  other  subject  which  comes  within 
the  scope  of  congressional  power,  there  is  an  ever-living 
discretion  in  the  use  of  proper  means,  which  cannot  be 
restricted  or  abolished  without  an  amendment  of  the  con- 
stitution. Every  act  of  Congress,  therefore,  which  at- 
tempts by  grants  or  monopolies,  or  sales  of  exclusive  privi- 
leges for  a  limited  time,  or  a  time  without  limit,  to  restrict 
or  extinguish  its  own  discretion  in  the  choice  of  means  to 
execute  its  delegated  powers,  is  equivalent  to  a  legisla- 
tive amendment  of  the  constitution,  and  palpably  uncon- 
stitutional. 

This  act  authorizes  and  encourages  transfers  of  its 
stock  to  foreigners,  and  grants  them  an  exemption  from 
all  state  and  national  taxation.  So  far  from  being  "  neces- 
sary and  proper'*  that  the  bank  should  possess  this  power 
to  make  it  a  safe  and  efficient  agent  of  the  government  in 
its  fiscal  operations,  it  is  calculated  to  convert  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  into  a  foreign  bank,  to  impoverish  our 
people  in  time  of  peace,  to  disseminate  a  foreign  influ- 
ence through  every  section  of  the  republic,  and  in  war, 
to  endanger  our  independence. 

The  several  states  reserved  the  power,  at  the  formation 
of  the  constitution,  to  regulate  and  control  titles  and 
transfers  of  real  property ;  and  most,  if  not  all  of  them, 
have  laws  disqualifying  aliens  from  acquiring  or  holding 
lands  within  their  limits.  But  this  act,  in  disregard  of 
the  undoubted  right  of  the  states  to  prescribe  such  dis- 
qualifications, gives  to  aliens,  stockholders  in  this  bank, 
an  interest  and  title,  as  members  of  the  corporation,  to 
all  the  real  property  it  may  acquire  within  any  of  the 
states  of  this  Union.  This  privilege  granted  to  aliens  is 
not  "  nrrrztary"  to  enable  the  bank  to  perform  its  public 
duties,  nor  in  any  sense  " proper"  because  it  is  vitally 
subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  states. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  have  no  consti- 
tutional power  to  purchase  lands  within  the  states,  except 
"  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock- 
yards and  other  needful  buildings;"  and  even  for  these 
objects,  only  "  by  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the 
state  in  which  the  same  shall  be."  By  making  themselvew 


BANK   VETO.  183 

-   i*^v      Vx 

stockholders  in  the  bank,  and  granting  to  the  corporation 
the  power  to  purchase  lands  for  other  purposes,  they  as- 
sume a  power  not  granted  in  the  constitution,  and  grant 
to  others  what  they  do  not  themselves  possess.  It  is  not 
"  necessary"  to  the  receiving,  safe  keeping,  or  transmit 
sion  of  the  funds  of  the  government,  that  the  bank  should 
possess  this  power;  and  it  is  not  "proper"  that  Congress 
should  thus  enlarge  the  powers  delegated  to  them  in  the 
constitution. 

The  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  possessed  a  capital 
of  only  eleven  millions  of  dollars,  which  was  found  fully 
sufficient  to  enable  it,  with  despatch  and  safety,  to  perform 
all  the  functions  required  of  it  by  the  government.  The 
capital  of  the  present  bank  is  thirty-five  millions  of  dol- 
lars, at  least  twenty-four  more  than  experience  has  proved 
to  be  "  necessary"  to  enable  a  bank  to  perform  its  public 
functions.  The  public  debt  which  existed  during  the 
period  of  the  old  bank,  and  on  the  establishment  of  the 
new,  has  been  nearly  paid  off,  and  our  revenue  will  soon 
be  reduced.  This  increase  of  capital  is  therefore  not  for 
public,  but  for  private  purposes. 

The  government  is  the  only  "proper"  judge  where  its 
agents  should  reside  and  keep  their  offices,  because  it 
best  knows  where  their  presence  will  be  "  necessary." 
It  cannot,  therefore,  be  "  necessary"  or  "proper"  to  au- 
thorize the  bank  to  locate  branches  where  it  pleases  to 
perform  the  public  service,  without  consulting  the  gov- 
ernment, and  contrary  to  its  will.  The  principle  laid 
down  by  the  Supreme  Court  concedes  that  Congress  can- 
not establish  a  bank  for  purposes  of  private  speculation 
and  gain,  but  only  as  a  means  of  executing  the  delegated 
powers  of  the  general  government.  By  the  same  princi- 
ple, a  branch  bank  cannot  constitutionally  be  established 
for  other  than  public  purposes.  The  power  which  this 
act  gives  to  establish  two  branches  in  any  state,  without 
the  injunction  or  request  of  the  government,  and  for  oth- 
er than  public  purposes,  is  not  "  necessary"  to  the  due 
execution  of  the  powers  delegated  to  Congress. 

The  bonus  which  is  exacted  from  the  bank  is  a  confes- 
sion, upon  the  face  of  the  act,  that  the  powers  granted  by 
it  are  greater  than  are  "  necessary"  to  its  character  of  a 


184  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

fiscal  agent.  The  government  does  not  tax  its  officer? 
and  agents  for  the  privilege  of  serving  it.  The  bonus 
of  a  million  and  a  half  required  by  the  original  charter, 
and  that  of  three  millions  proposed  by  this  act,  are  not 
exacted  for  the  privilege  of  giving  "  the  necessary  facili- 
ties for  transferring  the  public  funds  from  place  to  place, 
within  the  United  States  or  the  territories  thereof,  and  for 
distributing  the  same  in  payment  of  the  public  creditors, 
without  charging  commission  or  claiming  allowance  on 
account  of  the  difference  of  exchange,"  as  required  by 
the  act  of  incorporation,  but  for  something  more  benefi- 
cial to  the  stockholders.  The  original  act  declares,  that 
it  (the  bonus)  is  granted  "  in  consideration  of  the  exclu- 
sive privileges  and  benefits  conferred  by  this  act  upon  the 
said  bank,"  and  the  act  before  me  declares  it  to  be  "  in 
consideration  of  the  exclusive  benefits  and  privileges  con- 
tinued by  this  act  to  the  said  corporation  for  fifteen  years 
as  aforesaid."  It  is,  therefore,  for  "  exclusive  privileges 
and  benefits"  conferred  for  their  own  use  and  emolument, 
and  not  for  the  advantage  of  the  government,  that  a  bo- 
nus is  exacted.  These  surplus  powers,  for  which  the  bank 
is  required  to  pay,  cannot  surely  be  "  necessary"  to  make 
it  the  fi«c-?.!  ?£ent  of  the  treasury.  If  they  were,  the 
exaction  of  a  bonus  for  them  would  not  be  "proper." 

It  is  maintained  by  some  that  the  bank  is  a  means  of 
executing  the  constitutional  power  "to  coin  money,  and 
regulate  the  value  thereof."  Congress  have  established  a 
mint  to  coin  money,  and  passed  laws  to  regulate  the  value 
thereof.  The  money  so  coined,  with  the  value  so  regu- 
lated, and  such  foreign  coins  as  Congress  may  adopt,  are 
the  only  currency  known  to  the  constitution.  But  if  they 
have  other  power  to  regulate  the  currency,  it  was  confer- 
red to  be  exercised  by  themselves,  and  not  to  be  transfer- 
red to  a  corporation.  If  the  bank  be  established  for  that 
purpose,  with  a  charter  unalterable  without  its  consent, 
Congress  have  parted  with  their  power  for  a  term  of  years, 
during  which  the  constitution  is  a  dead  letter.  It  is  nei- 
ther necessary  nor  proper  to  transfer  its  legislative  power 
to  such  a  bank,  and  therefore  unconstitutional, 

By  its  silence,  considered  in  connection  with  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  McCulloch 


BANK    VETO.  185 

.    % 

against  the  state  of  Maryland,  this  act  takes  from  the 
states  the  power  to  tax  a  portion  of  the  banking  business 
carried  on  within  their  limits,  in  subversion  of  one  of  the 
strongest  barriers  which  secured  them  against  federal  en- 
croachments. Banking,  like  farming,  manufacturing,  or 
any  other  occupation  or  profession,  is  a  business,  the  right 
to  follow  which  is  not  originally  derived  from  the  laws. 
Every  citizen,  and  every  company  of  citizens,  in  all  of* 
our  states,  possessed  the  right,  until  the  state  legislatures 
deemed  it  good  policy  to  prohibit  private  banking  by  law. 
If  the  prohibitory  state  laws  were  now  repealed,  every  citi- 
zen would  again  possess  the  right.  The  state  banks  are 
a  qualified  restoration  of  the  right  which  has  been  taken 
away  by  the  laws  against  banking,  guarded  by  such  pro- 
visions and  limitations  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  state  legis 
latures  the  public  interest  requires.  These  corporations, 
unless  there  be  an  exemption  in  their  charter,  are,  like 
private  bankers  and  banking  companies,  subject  to  state 
taxation.  The  manner  in  which  these  taxes  shall  be  laid, 
depends  wholly  on  legislative  discretion.  It  may  be  upon 
the  bank,  upon  the  stock,  upon  the  profits,  or  in  any  other 
mode  which  the  sovereign  power  shall  will. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  constitution  the  states  guard- 
ed their  taxing  power  with  peculiar  jealousy.  They 
surrendered  it  only  as  regards  imports  and  exports.  In 
relation  to  every  other  object  within  their  jurisdiction, 
whether  persons,  property,  business,  or  professions,  it  was 
secured  in  as  ample  a  manner  as  it  was  before  possessed. 
All  persons,  though  United  States'  officers,  are  liable  to 
a  poll  tax  by  the  states  within  which  they  reside.  The 
lands  of  the  United  States  are  liable  to  the  usual  land  tax, 
except  in  the  new  states,  from  whom  agreements  that  they 
will  not  tax  unsold  lands  are  exacted  when  they  are  admitted 
into  the  Union ;  horses,  wagons,  any  beasts  or  vehicles, 
tools  or  property  belonging  to  private  citizens,  though 
employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  are  subject 
to  state  taxation.  Every  private  business,  whether  car- 
ried on  by  an  officer  of  the  general  government  or  not, 
whether  it  be  mixed  with  public  concerns  or  not,  even  if 
it  be  carried  on  by  the  United  States  itself,  separately  or 
in  partnership,  falls  within  the  scope  of  the  taxing  power 
of  the  state.  Nothing  comes  more  fully  within  it  than 
16* 

- 


186  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

banks,  and  the  business  of  banking,  by  whomsoever  in 
.-*tituted  and  carried  on.  Over  this  whole  subject  matter, 
it  is  just  as  absolute,  unlimited,  and  uncontrollable,  as  if 
the  constitution  never  had  been  adopted,  because,  in  the 
formation  of  that  instrument,  it  was  reserved  without 
qualification. 

The  principle  is  conceded  that  the  states  cannot  right- 
••  fully  tax  the  operations  of  the  general  government.  They 
cannot  tax  the  money  of  the  government  deposited  in  the 
state  banks,  nor  the  agency  of  those  banks  in  remitting 
it  ;  but  will  any  man  maintain  that  their  mere  selection 
to  perform  this  public  service  for  the  general  government, 
would  exempt  the  state  banks  and  their  ordinary  business 
from  state  taxation  ?  Had  the  United  States,  instead  of 
establishing  a  bank  at  Philadelphia,  employed  a  private 
banker  to  keep  and  transmit  their  funds,  would  it  have 
deprived  Pennsylvania  of  the  right  to  tax  his  bank  and 
his  usual  banking  operations  ?  It  will  not  be  pretended. 
Upon  what  principle,  then,  are  the  banking  establishments 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  their  usual  bank- 
'  ing  operations,  to  be  exempted  from  taxation  ?  It  is  not 
their  public  agency  or  the  deposits  of  the  government 
which  the  states  claim  a  right  to  tax,  but  their  banks  and 
their  banking  powers,  instituted  and  exercised  within 
state  jurisdiction  for  their  private  emolument,  those  pow- 
ers and  privileges  for  which  they  pay  a  bonus,  and  which 
the  states  tax  in  their  own  banks.  The  exercise  of  these 
powers  within  a  state,  no  matter  by  whom  or  under  what 
Authority,  whether  by  private  citizens  in  their  original 
right,  by  corporate  bodies  created  by  the  states,  by  fo- 
reigners or  the  agents  of  foreign  governments  located 
within  their  limits,  forms  a  legitimate  object  of  state  tax- 
ation. From  this  and  like  sources,  from  the  persona, 
property,  and  business  that  are  found  residing,  located,  or 
carried  on  under  their  jurisdiction,  must  the  states,  since 
the  surrender  of  their  right  to  raise  a  revenue  from  im- 
ports and  exports,  draw  all  the  money  necessary  for  the 
support  of  their  governments  and  the  maintenance  of 
their  independence.  There  is  no  more  appropriate  sub- 
ject of  taxation  than  banks,  banking,  and  bank  stocks, 
and  none  to  which  the  states  ought  more  pertinaciously 
to  cling. 


BANK    VETO.  187 

It  cannot  be  necessary  to  the  character  of  the  bank  as 
a  fiscal  agent  of  the  government,  that  its  private  business 
should  be  exempted  from  that  taxation  to  which  all  state 
banks  are  liable;  nor  can  I  conceive  it  "proper"  that  the 
substantive  and  most  essential  powers  reserved  by  the 
states  shall  be  thus  attacked  and  annihilated  as  a  means 
of  executing  the  powers  delegated  to  the  general  govern- 
ment. It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  none  of  those 
sages  who  had  an  agency  in  forming  or  adopting  our  con- 
stitution, ever  imagined  that  any  portion  of  the  taxing 
power  of  the  states,  not  prohibited  to  them  nor  delegated 
to  Congress,  was  to  be  swept  away  and  annihilated  as 
a  means  of  executing  certain  powers  delegated  to  Con- 
gress. 

If  our  power  over  means  is  so  absolute  that  the  Su- 
preme Court  will  not  call  in  question  the  constitutionali- 
ty of  an  act  of  Congress,  the  subject  of  which  "  is  not 
prohibited,  and  is  really  calculated  to  effect  any  of  the 
objects  entrusted  to  the  government,"  although,  as  in  the 
case  before  me,  it  takes  away  powers  expressly  granted 
to  Congress,  and  rights  scrupulously  reserved  to  the  states, 
it  becomes  us  to  proceed  in  our  legislation  with  the  ut- 
most caution.  Though  not  directly,  our  own  powers  and 
the  rights  of  the  states  may  be  indirectly  legislated  away 
in  the  use  of  means  to  execute  substantive  powers.  We 
may  not  enact  that  Congress  shall  not  have  the  power  of 
exclusive  legislation  over  the  District  of  Columbia,  but 
we  may  pledge  the  faith  of  the  United  States  that,  as  a 
means  of  executing  other  powers,  it  shall  not  be  exerci- 
sed for  twenty  years  or  forever.  We  may  not  pass  an  act 
prohibiting  the  states  to  tax  the  banking  business  carried 
on  within  their  limits,  but  we  may,  as  a  means  of  execu- 
ting power  over  other  objects,  place  that  business  in  the 
hands  of  our  agents,  and  then  declare  it  exempt  from  state 
taxation  in  their  hands.  Thus  may  our  own  powers  and 
the  rights  of  the  states,  which  we  cannot  directly  curtail 
or  invade,  be  frittered  away  and  extinguished  in  the  use 
of  means  employed  by  us  to  execute  other  powers.  That 
a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  competent  to  all  the  duties 
which  may  be  required  by  the  government,  might  be  so 
organized  as  not  to  infringe  on  our  own  delegated  pow- 


188  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ers,  or  the  reserved  rights  of  the  states,  I  do  not  enter- 
tain a  doubt.  Had  the  executive  been  called  upon  to 
furnish  the  project  of  such  an  institution,  the  duty  would 
have  been  cheerfully  performed.  In  the  absence  of  such 
a  call,  it  is  obviously  proper  that  he  should  confine  him- 
self to  pointing  out  those  prominent  features  in  the  act 
presented,  which,  in  his  opinion,  make  it  incompatible 
with  the  constitution  and  sound  policy.  A  general  dis- 
cussion will  now  take  place,  eliciting  new  light,  and  set- 
tling important  principles  ;  and  anew  Congress,  elected 
in  the  midst  of  such  discussion,  and  furnishing  an  equal 
representation  of  the  people  according  to  the  last  census, 
will  bear  to  the  capitol  the  verdict  of  public  opinion,  and, 
I  doubt  not,  bring  this  important  question  to  a  satisfac- 
tory result. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  bank  comes  forward 
and  asks  a  renewal  of  its  charter  for  a  term  of  fifteen 
years,  upon  conditions  which  not  only  operate  as  a  gra- 
tuity to  the  stockholders  of  many  millions  of  dollars, 
but  will  sanction  any  abuses  and  legalize  any  encroach- 
ments. 

Suspicions  are  entertained,  and  charges  are  made,  of 
gross  abuse  and  violation  of  its  charter.  An  investiga- 
tion unwillingly  conceded,  and  so  restricted  in  time  as 
necessarily  to  make  it  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory,  dis- 
closed enough  to  excite  suspicion  and  alarm.  In  the 
practices  of  the  principal  bank  partially  unveiled,  in  the 
absence  of  important  witnesses,  and  in  numerous  charges 
confidently  made,  and  as  yet  wholly  uninvestigated,  there 
was  enough  to  induce  a  majority  of  the  committee  of 
investigation,  a  committee  which  was  selected  from  the 
most  able  and  honorable  members  of  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, to  recommend  a  suspension  of  further  ac- 
tion upon  the  bill,  and  a  prosecution  of  the  inquiry.  As 
the  charter  had  yet  four  years  to  run,  and  as  a  renewal 
now  was  not  necessary  to  the  successful  prosecution  of 
its  business,  it  was  to  have  been  expected  that  the  bank 
itself,  conscious  of  its  purity,  and  proud  of  its  character, 
would  have  withdrawn  its  application  for  the  present,  and 
demanded  the  severest  scrutiny  into  all  its  transactions. 
In  their  declining  to  do  so,  there  seems  to  be  an  additional 


BANK    VETO.  189 

reason  why  the  functionaries  of  the  government  should 
proceed  with  less  haste  and  more  caution  in  the  renewal 
of  their  monopoly. 

The  bank  is  professedly  established  as  an  agent  of  the 
executive  branches  of  the  government,  and  its  constitu- 
tionality is  maintained  on  that  ground.  Neither  upon  the 
propriety  of  present  action,  nor  upon  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  was  the  executive  consulted.  It  has  had  no  oj 
portunity  to  say  that  it  neither  needs  nor  wants  an  agent 
clothed  with  such  powers,  and  favored  by  such  exemptions. 
There  is  nothing  in  its  legitimate  functions  which  make 
it  necessary  or  proper.  Whatever  interest  or  influence, 
whether  public  or  private,  has  given  birth  to  this  act,  it 
cannot  be  found  either  in  the  wishes  or  necessities  of  the 
executive  department,  by  which  present  action  is  deemed 
premature,  and  the  powers  conferred  upon  its  agent 
not  only  unnecessary,  but  dangerous  to  the  government 
and  country. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  rich  and  powerful  too  often 
bend  the  acts  of  government  to  their  selfish  purposes. 
Distinctions  in  society  will  always  exist  under  every  just 
government.  Equality  of  talents,  of  education,  or  of 
wealth,  cannot  be  produced  by  human  institutions.  In 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  gifts  of  heaven,  and  the  fruits 
of  superior  industry,  economy,  and  virtue,  every  man  is 
equally  entitled  to  protection  by  law.  But  when  the  laws 
undertake  to  add  to  these  natural  and  just  advantages, 
artificial  distinctions,  to  grant  titles,  gratuities,  and  ex- 
clusive privileges,  to  make  the  rich  richer,  and  the  potent 
more  powerful,  the  humble  members  of  society,  the  farm- 
ers, mechanics,  and  laborers,  who  have  neither  the  time 
nor  the  means  of  securing  like  favors  to  themselves,  have 
a  right  to  complain  of  the  injustice  of  their  government. 
There  are  no  necessary  evils  in  government.  Its  evils 
exist  only  in  its  abuses.  If  it  would  confine  itself  to 
equal  protection,  and,  as  Heaven  does  its  rains,  shower  its 
favors  alike  on  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  it  would  be  an  unqualified  blessing.  In  the  act 
before  me,  there  seems  to  be  a  wide  and  unnecessary 
departure  from  these  just  principles. 

Nor  is  our  government  to  be  maintained,  or  our  Union 


i 

; 


190  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

preserved,  by  invasion  of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the 
several  states.  In  thus  attempting  to  make  our  general 
government  strong,  we  make  it  \veak.  Its  true  strength 
consists  in  leaving  individuals  and  states,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, to  themselves ;  in  making  itself  felt,  not  in  its  pow- 
er, but  in  its  beneficence,  not  in  its  control,  but  in  its 
protection,  not  in  binding  the  states  more  closely  to  the 
centre,  but  leaving  each  to  move  unobstructed,  in  its 
proper  orbit. 

Experience  should  teach  us  wisdom.  Most  of  the  diffi- 
culties our  government  now  encounters,  and  most  of  the 
dangers  which  impend  over  our  Union,  have  sprung  from 
Jin  abandonment  of  the  legitimate  objects  of  government 
by  our  national  legislation,  and  the  adoption  of  such  prin- 
ciples as  are  embodied  in  this  act.  Many  of  our  rich 
men  have  not  been  content  with  equal  protection  and 
equal  benefits,  but  have  besought  us  to  make  them  richer 
by  act  of  Congress.  By  attempting  to  gratify  their  de- 
sires, we  have,  in  the  results  of  our  legislation,  arrayed 
section  against  section,  interest  against  interest,  and  man 
against  man,  in  a  fearful  commotion,  which  threatens  to 
shake  the  foundations  of  our  Union.  It  is  time  to  pause 
in  our  career,  to  review  our  principles,, and,  if  possible, 
revive  that  devoted  patriotism  and  spirit  of  compromise 
which  distinguished  the  sages  of  the  revolution  and  the 
fathers  of  our  Union.  If  we  cannot  at  once,  in  justice 
to  the  interests  vested  under  improvident  legislation,  make 
our  government  what  it  ought  to  be,  we  can  at  least  take 
a  stand  against  all  new  grants  of  monopolies  and  exclu- 
sive privileges,  against  any  prostitution  of  our  govern- 
ment to  the  advancement  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of 
the  many,  and  in  favor  of  compromise  and  gradual  re- 
form in  our  code  of  laws  and  system  of  political  economy. 

I  have  now  done  my  duty  to  my  country.  If  sustained 
by  my  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  be  grateful  and  happy;  if 
not,  I  shall  find  in  the  motives  which  impel  me,  ample 
grounds  for  contentment  and  peace.  In  the  difficulties 
which  surround  us,  and  the  dangers  which  threaten  our 
institutions,  there  is  cause  for  neither  dismay  nor  alarm. 
For  relief  and  deliverance,  let  us  firmly  rely  on  that  kind 
Providence  which,  I  am  sure,  watches  with  peculiar  care 


JACKSON'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.         191 

over  the  destinies  of  our  republic,  and  on  the  intelligence 
and  wisdom  of  our  countrymen.  Through  His  abun- 
dant goodness,  and  their  patriotic  devotion,  our  liberty 
and  union  will  be  preserved. 


JACKSON'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 
MARCH  4,  1833. 


Fellow-Citizens : 

The  will  of  the  American  people,  expressed  through 
their  unsolicited  suffrages,  calls  me  before  you  to  pass 
through  the  solemnities  preparatory  to  taking  upon  myself 
the  duties  of  President  of  the  United  States  for  another 
term.  For  their  approbation  of  my  public  conduct, 
through  a  period  which  has  not  been  without  its  difficul- 
ties, and  for  this  renewed  expression  of  their  confidence 
in  my  good  intentions,  I  am  at  a  loss  for  terms  adequate 
to  the  expression  of  my  gratitude.  It  shall  be  displayed, 
to  the  extent  of  my  humble  abilities,  in  continued  efforts 
so  to  administer  the  government,  as  to  preserve  their 
liberty  and  promote  their  happiness. 

So  many  events  have  occurred  within  the  last  four 
years,  which  have  necessarily  called  forth,  sometimes  under 
circumstances  the  most  delicate  and  painful,  my  views  of 
the  principles  and  policy  which  ought  to  be  pursued  by 
the  general  government,  that  I  need,  on  this  occasion,  but 
allude  to  a  few  leading  considerations,  connected  with 
some  of  them. 

The  foreign  policy  adopted  by  our  government  soon 
after  the  formation  of  our  present  constitution,  and  very 
generally  pursued  by  successive  administrations,  has  been 
crowned  with  almost  complete  success,  and  has  elevated 
our  character  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  To  do 
justice  to  all,  and  to  submit  to  wrong  from  none,  has  been, 
during  my  administration,  its  governing  maxim  ;  and  so 
happy  has  been  its  results,  that  we  are  not  only  at  peace 


5, 


192  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

with  all  the  world,  but  have  few  causes  of  controversy ; 
and  those  of  minor  importance,  remaining  unadjusted. 

In  the  domestic  policy  of  this  government,  there  are 
two  objects  which  especially  deserve  the  attention  of  the 
people  and  th^y  representatives,  and  which  have  been,  and 
will  continue  to  be,  the  subjects  of  my  unceasing  solici- 
tude. They  are,  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  the 
states  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 

These  great  objects  are  necessarily  connected,  and  can 
only  be  attained  by  an  enlightened  exercise  of  the  pow- 
ers of  each  within  its  appropriate  sphere,  in  conformity  to 
the  public  will  constitutionally  expressed.  To  this  end, 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  to  yield  a  ready  and  patriotic 
submission  to  the  laws  constitutionally  enacted,  and 
thereby  promote  and  strengthen  a  proper  confidence  in 
those  institutions  of  the  several  states  and  of  the  United 
States,  which  the  people  themselves  have  ordained  for 
their  own  government. 

My  experience  in  public  concerns,  and  the  observation 
of  a  ^life  somewhat  advanced,  confirm  the  opinions  long 
since  imbibed  by  me,  that  the  destruction  of  our  state 
governments,  or  the  annihilation  of  their  control  over  the 
local  concerns  of  the  people,  would  lead  directly  to  revo- 
lution and  anarchy,  and  finally  to  despotism  and  military 
domination.  In  proportion,  therefore,  as  the  general  go- 
vernment encroaches  upon  the  rights  of  the  states,  in  the 
same  proportion  does  it  impair  its  own  power,  and  detract 
from  its  ability  to  fulfil  the  purposes  of  its  creation.  So- 
lemnly impressed  with  these  considerations,  my  country- 
men will  ever  find  me  ready  to  exercise  my  constitutional 
powers  in  arresting  measures  which  may  directly  or  indi- 
rectly encroach  upon  the  rights  of  the  states,  or  tend  to 
consolidate  all  political  power  in  the  general  government. 
But,  of  equal,  and  indeed  of  incalculable  importance,  is 
the  union  of  these  states,  and  the  sacred  duty  of  all  to 
contribute  to  its  preservation  by  a  liberal  support  of  the 
general  government  in  the  exercise  of  its  just  powers. 
You  have  been  wisely  admonished  to  "  accustom  your- 
selves to  think  and  speak  of  the  Union  as  of  the  palla- 
dium of  your  political  safety  and  prosperity,  watching  for 
Us  preservation  with  jealous  anxiety,  discountenancing 


JACKSON'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.        193 

whatever  may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can  in  any 
event  be  abandoned,  and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the 
first  dawning  of  any  attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of 
our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties 
which  now  link  together  the  various  parts."  Without 
union  our  independence  and  liberty  would  never  have 
been  achieved — without  union  they  never  can  be  main- 
tained. Divided  in  twenty-four,  or  even  a  smaller  num- 
ber of  separate  communities,  we  shall  see  our  internal 
trade  burdened  with  numberless  restraints  and  exac- 
tions ;  communication  between  distant  points  and  sectio 
obstructed,  or  cut  off;  our  sons  made  soldiers  to  delug 
with  blood  the  fields  they  now  till  in  peace  ;  the  mass  o 
our  people  borne  down  and  impoverished  by  taxes  to  sup- 
port armies  and  navies  ;  and  military  leaders  at  the  head 
of  their  victorious  legions  becoming  our  lawgivers  and 
judges.  The  loss  of  liberty,  of  all  good  government,  of 
peace,  plenty,  and  happiness,  must  inevitably  follow  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union.  In  supporting  it,  therefore,  wo 
support  all  that  is  dear  to  the  freeman  and  the  p'luTan- 
thropist. 

The  time  at  which  I  stand  before  you  is  full  of  inte- 
rest. The  eyes  of  all  nations  are  fixed  on  our  republic. 
The  event  of  the  existing  crisis  will  be  decisive  in  the 
opinion  of  mankind  of  the  practicability  of  our  federal 
system  of  government.  Great  is  the  stake  placed  in  our 
hands;  great  is  the  responsibility  which  must  rest  upon 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  Let  us  realize  the  im- 
portance of  the  attitude  in  which  we  stand  before  the 
world.  Let  us  exercise  forbearance  and  firmness.  Let 
us  extricate  our  country  from  the  dangers  which  sur- 
round it,  and  learn  wisdom  from  the  lessons  they  in- 
culcate. 

17 


194  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

PROTEST, 
APRIL  15,  1834. 

To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  : 

It  appears  by  the  published  journal  of  the  Senate,  that 
on  the  26th  of  December  last,  a  resolution  was  offered  by 
a  member  of  the  Senate,  which,  after  a  protracted  debate, 
was  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  March  last  modified  by 
the  mover,  and  passed  by  the  votes  of  twenty-six  Sena- 
tor- out  of  forty-six,  who  were  present  and  voted,  in  the 
following  words,  viz  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President,  in  the  late  executive 
proceeding  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,  has  assumed 
upon  himself  authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the 
constitution  and  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both." 

Having  had  the  honor,  through  the  voluntary  suffrages 
of  the  American  people,  to  fill  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States  during  the  period  which  may  be 
presumed  to  have  been  referred  to  in  this  resolution,  it  is 
sufficiently  evident  that  the  censure  it  inflicts  was  intend- 
ed for  myself.  Without  notice,  unheard  and  untried,  I 
thus  find  myself  charged  on  the  records  of  the  Senate, 
and  in  a  form  hitherto  unknown  in  our  history,  with  the 
high  crime  of  violating  the  laws  and  constitution  of  my 
country. 

It  can  seldom  be  necessary  for  any  department  of  the 
government,  when  assailed  in  conversation  or  debate,  or 
by  the  strictures  of  the  press  or  of  popular  assemblies,  to 
step  out  of  its  ordinary  path  for  the  purpose  of  vindica- 
ting its  conduct,  or  of  pointing  out  any  irregularity  or 
injustice  in  the  manner  of  the  attack.  But  when  the 
chief  executive  magistrate  is,  by  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant branches  of  the  government,  in  its  official  capacity, 
in  a  public  manner,  and  by  its  recorded  sentence,  but 
without  precedent,  competent  authority,  or  just  cause,  de- 
clared guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  laws  and  constitution, 
it  is  due  to  his  station,  to  public  opinion,  and  to  proper 
.self-respect,  that  the  officer  thus  denounced  should  prompt- 
ly expose  the  wrong  which  has  been  done. 


PROTEST.  195 

In  the  present  case,  moreover,  there  is  even  a  stronger 
necessity  for  such  a  vindication.  By  an  express  provision 
of  the  constitution,  before  the  President  of  the  United 
States  can  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  is  re- 
quired to  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  in  the  following 
words : 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully 
execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States  ;  and 
will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  de- 
fend the  constitution  of  the  United  States." 

The  duty  of  defending,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  the  integ- 
rity of  the  constitution  would  indeed  have  resulted  from 
the  very  nature  of  his  office ;  but  by  thus  expressing  it  in 
the  official  oath  or  affirmation,  which,  in  this  respect,  dif- 
fers from  that  of  every  other  functionary,  the  founders  of 
our  republic  have  attested  their  sense  of  its  importance, 
and  have  given  to  it  a  peculiar  solemnity  and  force. 
Bound  to  the  performance  of  this  duty  by  the  oath  I  have 
taken,  by  the  strongest  obligations  of  gratitude  to  the 
American  people,  and  by  the  ties  which  unile  my  every 
earthly  interest  with  the  welfare  and  glory  of  my  country  ; 
and  perfectly  convinced  that  the  discussion  and  passage 
of  the  above-mentioned  resolution  were  not  only  unau- 
thorized by  the  constitution,  but  in  many  respects  repug- 
nant to  its  provisions  and  subversive  of  the  rights  secured 
by  it  to  other  co-ordinate  departments,  I  deem  it  an  im- 
perative duty  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  that  sacred 
instrument,  and  the  immunities  of  the  department  intrust- 
ed to  my  care,  by  all  means  consistent  with  my  own  law- 
ful oowers,  with  the  rights  of  others,  and  with  the  genius 
of  our  civil  institutions,  To  this  end,  I  have  caused  this, 
my  solemn  protest  against  the  aforesaid  proceedings,  to 
be  placed  on  the  files  of  the  executive  department,  and 
to  be  transmitted  to  the  Senate. 

It  is  alike  due  to  the  subject,  the  Senate,  and  the  peo- 
ple, that  the  views  which  I  have  taken  of  the  proceedings 
referred  to,  and  which  compel  me  to  regard  them  in  the 
light  which  has  been  mentioned,  should  be  exhibited  at 
length,  and  with  the  freedom  and  firmness  which  are  re- 
quired by  an  occasion  so  unprecedented  and  peculiar. 

Under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  pow- 


196  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ers  and  functions  of  the  various  departments  of  the  fed- 
eral government,  and  their  responsibilities  for  violation 
or  neglect  of  duty,  are  clearly  defined  or  result  by  neces- 
sary inference.  The  legislative  power,  subject  to  the  qua- 
lified negative  of  the  President,  is  vested  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  composed  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives.  The  executive  power  is  vested  ex- 
clusively in  the  President,  except  that  in  the  conclusion 
of  treaties  and  in  certain  appointments  to  office,  he  is  to 
act  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  judi- 
cial power  is  vested  exclusively  in  the  Supreme  and  other 
courts  of  the  United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeach- 
ment, for  which  purpose  the  accusatory  power  is  vested 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  that  of  hearing  and 
determining  in  the  Senate.  But  although,  for  the  special 
purposes  which  have  been  mentioned,  there  is  an  occa- 
sional intermixture  of  the  powers  of  the  different  depart- 
ments, yet,  with  these  exceptions,  each  of  the  three  great 
departments  is  independent  of  the  others  in  its  sphere  of 
action  ;  and  when  it  deviates  from  that  sphere,  is  not  re- 
sponsible to  the  others,  further  than  it  is  expressly  made 
so  in  the  constitution.  In  every  other  respect,  each  of 
them  is  the  co-equal  of  the  other  two,  and  all  are  the  ser- 
vants of  the  American  people,  without  power  or  right  to 
control  or  censure  each  other  in  the  service  of  their 
common  superior,  save  only  in  the  manner  and  to  the 
degree  which  that  superior  has  prescribed. 

The  responsibilities  of  the  President  are  numerous  and 
weighty.  He  is  liable  to  impeachment  for  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,  and,  on  due  conviction,  to  removal 
from  office,  and  perpetual  disqualification  ;  and  notwith- 
standing such  conviction,  he  may  also  be  indicted  and 
punished  according  to  law.  He  is  also  liable  to  the  pri- 
vate action  of  any  party  who  may  have  been  injured  by 
his  illegal  mandates  or  instructions,  in  the  same  manner 
and  to  the  same  extent  as  the  humblest  functionary.  In 
addition  to  the  responsibilities  which  may  thus  be  en- 
forced by  impeachment,  criminal  prosecution,  or  suit  at 
law,  he  is  also  accountable  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion, 
for  every  act  of  his  administration.  Subject  only  to 
the  restraints  of  truth  and  justice,  the  free  people  of  the 


PROTEST.  197 

United  States  have  the  undoubted  right,  as  individuals  or 
collectively,  orally  or  in  writing,  at  such  times,  and  in 
such  language  and  form  as  they  may  think  proper,  to  dis- 
cuss his  official  conduct,  and  to  express  and  promulgate 
their  opinions  concerning  it.  Indirectly,  also,  his  con- 
duct may  come  under  review  in  either  branch  of  the 
legislature,  or  in  the  Senate  when  acting  in  its  executive 
capacity,  and  so  far  as  the  executive  or  legislative  pro- 
ceedings of  these  bodies  may  require  it,  it  may  be  ex- 
amined by  them.  These  are  believed  to  be  the  proper 
and  only  modes  in  which  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  to  be  held  accountable  for  his  official  conduct. 

Tested  by  these  principles,  the  resolution  of  the  Se- 
nate is  wholly  unauthorized  by  the  constitution,  and  in 
derogation  of  its  entire  spirit.  It  assumes  that  a  single 
branch  of  the  legislative  department  may,  for  the  purposes 
of  a  public  censure,  and  without  any  view  to  legislation 
or  ^impeachment,  take  up,  consider,  and  decide  upon  the 
official  acts  of  the  executive.  But  in  no  part  of  the  con- 
stitution is  the  President  subjected  to  any  such  responsi- 
bility ;  and  in  no  part  of  that  instrument  is  any  such 
power  conferred  on  either  branch  of  the  legislature. 

The  justice  of  these  conclusions  will  be  illustrated  and 
confirmed  by  a  brief  analysis  of  the  powers  of  the  Se: 
nate,  and  a  comparison  of  their  recent  proceedings  with 
those  powers. 

The  high  functions  assigned  by  the  constitution  to  the 
Senate,  are  in  their  nature  either  legislative,  executive  or 
judicial.  It  is  only  in  the  exercise  of  its  judicial  pow-' 
ers,  when  sitting  as  a  court  for  the  trial  of  impeachments, 
that  the  Senate  is  expressly  authorized  and  necessarily 
required  to  consider  and  decide  upon  the  conduct  of  the 
President  or  any  other  public  officer.  Indirectly,  how- 
ever, as  has  already  been  suggested,  it  may  frequently  be 
called  on  to  perform  that  office.  Cases  may  occur  in 
the  course  of  its  legislative  or  executive  proceedings,  in 
which  it  may  be  indispensable  to  the  proper  exercise  of 
its  powers,  that  should  inquire  into,  and  decide  upon,  the 
conduct  of  the  President  or  other  public  officers  :  and  in 
every  other  such  case,  its  constitutional  right  to  do  so  is 
cheerfully  conceded.  But  to  authorize  the  Senate  to 
17* 


198  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

enter  on  such  a  task  in  its  legislative  or  executive  capa- 
city, the  inquiry  must  actually  grow  out  of,  and  tend  to 
some  legislative  or  executive  action  ;  and  the  decision 
when  expressed,  must  take  the  form  oi  some  appropriate 
legislative  or  executive  act. 

The  resolution  in  question  was  introduced,  discussed, 
nnd  passed,  not  as  a  joint,  but  as  a  separate  resolution. 
It  asserts  no  legislative  power ;  proposes  no  legislative 
action  ;  and  neither  possesses  the  form  nor  any  of  the 
attributes  of  a  legislative  measure.  It  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  entertained  or  passed,  with  any  view  or 
expectation  of  its  issuing  in  a  law  or  joint  resolution,  or 
in  any  other  legislative  action. 

While  wanting  both  the  form  and  substance  of  a  legia 
lative  measure,  it  is  equally  manifest  that  the  resolution 
was  not  justified  by  any  of  the  executive  powers  con- 
ferred upon  the  Senate.  These  powers  relate  exclusively 
to  the  consideration  of  treaties  and  nomination  to  office, 
and  they  are  exercised  in  secret  session,  and  with  closed 
doors.  This  resolution  does  not  apply  to  any  treaty  or 
nomination,  and  was  passed  in  a  public  session. 

Nor  does  this  proceeding  in  any  way  belong  to  that 
class  of  incidental  resolutions  which  relate  to  the  officers 
of  the  Senate,  to  their  chamber  and  other  appurtenances, 
or  to  subjects  of  order,  and  other  matters  of  like  nature 
— in  all  which  either  house  may  lawfully  proceed,  with- 
out any  co-operation  with  the  other,  or  with  the  Pre- 
sident. 

On  the  contrary,  the  whole  phraseology  and  sense  of 
the  resolution  seem  to  be  judicial.  Its  essence,  true 
character,  and  only  practical  effect,  are  to  be  found  in 
the  conduct  which  it  charges  upon  the  President,  in  the 
judgment  which  it  pronounces  on  that  conduct.  The 
resolution,  therefore,  though  discussed  and  adopted  by 
the  Senate  in  its  legislative  capacity,  is,  in  its  office  and 
in  all  its  characteristics,  essentially  judicial. 

That  the  Senate  possess  a  high  judicial  power,  and 
that  instances  may  occur  in  which  the  President  of  the 
United  States  will  be  amenable  to  it,  is  undeniable.  But 
under  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  it  would  seem 
to  be  equally  plain  that  neither  the  President  nor  any 


PROTEST.  199 

other  officer  can  be  rightfully  subject  to  the  operation  of 
the  judicial  power  of  the  Senate,  except  in  the  cases  and 
under  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  constitution. 

The  constitution  declares  that  "  the  President,  Vice- 
President,  and  all  civil  officers  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for  and 
conviction  of  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors ;"  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
"shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachments;"  that  the 
Senate  "  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeach- 
ments ;"  that  "  when  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall 
be  on  oath  or  affirmation  ;  that  "  when  the  President  of 
the  United  States  is  tried,  the  chief  justice  shall  preside  ;" 
that  "  no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concur- 
rence of  two  thirds  of  the  members  present ;"  and  that 
judgment  shall  not  extend  further  than  "to  removal 
from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any 
office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United  States." 

The  resolution  above  quoted,  charges  in  substance, 
that  in  certain  proceedings,  relating  to  the  public  reve- 
nue, the  President  has  usurped  authority  and  power  not 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  and 
that  in  doing  so  he  violated  both.  Any  such  act  consti- 
tutes a  high  crime — one  of  the  highest,  indeed,  which 
the  President  can  commit — -a  crime  which  justly  exposes 
to  impeachment  by  the  House^  of  Representatives,  and 
upon  due  conviction  to  removal  from  office,  and  to  the 
complete  and  immutable  disfranchisement  prescribed  by 
the  constitution. 

The  resolution,  then,  was  in  substance  an  impeach- 
ment of  the  President ;  and  in  its  passage,  amounts  to  a 
declaration  by  a  majority  of  the  Senate,  that  he  is  guilty 
of  an  impeachable  offence.  As  such,  it  is  spread  upon 
the  journals  of  the  Senate — published  to  the  nation  and 
to  the  world — made  part  of  our  enduring  archives — and 
incorporated  in  the  history  of  the  age.  The  punishment 
of  removal  from  office  and  future  disqualification,  does 
not,  it  is  true,  follow  this  decision  :  nor  would  it  have  fol- 
lowed the  like  decision,  if  the  regular  forms  of  proceed- 
ing had  been  pursued,  because  the  requisite  number  did 
not  concur  in  the  result.  But  the  moral  influence  of  a 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

solemn  declaration,  by  a  majority  of  the  Senate,  that  the 
accused  is  guilty  of  the  offence  charged  upon  him,  has 
been  as  effectually  secured,  as  if  the  like  declaration  had 
been  made  upon  an  impeachment  expressed  in  the  same 
terms.  Indeed,  a  greater  practical  effect  has  been  gained, 
because  the  votes  given  for  the  resolution,  though  not 
sufficient  to  authorize  a  judgment  of  guilty  on  an  im- 
peachment, were  numerous  enough  to  carry  that  reso- 
lution 

That  the  resolution  does  not  expressly  allege  that  the 
assumption  of  power  and  authority,  which  it  condemns, 
was  intentional  and  corrupt,  is  no  answer  to  the  preceding 
view  of  its  character  and  effect. 

The  act  thus  condemned,  necessarily  implies  volition 
and  design  in  the  individual  to  whom  it  is  imputed,  and 
being  unlawful  in  its  character,  the  legal  conclusion  is 
that  it  was  prompted  by  improper  motives,  and  committed 
with  an  unlawful  intent.  The  charge  is  not  of  a  mistake 
in  the  exercise  of  supposed  powers,  but  of  the  assump- 
tion of  powers  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws, 
but  in  derogation  of  both,  and  nothing  is  suggested  to 
excuse  or  palliate  the  turpitude  of  the  act.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  any  such  excuse  or  palliation,  there  is  only  room 
for  one  inference;  and  that  is,  that  the  intent  was  unlaw- 
ful and  corrupt.  Besides,  the  resolution  not  only  con- 
tains no  mitigating  suggestion,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it 
holds  up  the  act  complained  of  as  justly  obnoxious  to 
censure  and  reprobation ;  and  thus  as  distinctly  stamps  it 
with  impurity  of  motive,  as  if  the  strongest  epithets  had 
been  used. 

The  President  of  the  United  States,  therefore,  has 
been,  by  a  majority  of  his  constitutional  triers,  accused 
and  found  guilty  of  an  impeachable  offence ;  but  in  no 
part  of  this  proceeding  have  the  directions  of  the  consti- 
tution been  observed. 

The  impeachment,  instead  of  being  preferred  and  pro- 
secuted by  the  House  of  Representatives,  originated  in 
the  Senate,  and  was  prosecuted  without  the  aid  or  con- 
currence of  the  other  house.  The  oath  or  affirmation 
prescribed  by  the  constitution,  was  not  taken  by  the  Se- 
nators ;  the  chief  justice  did  not  preside  ;  no  notice  of 


PROTEST.  201 

the  charge  was  given  to  the  accused  ;  and  no  opportunity 
afforded  him  to  respond  to  the  accusation,  to  meet  his 
accusers  face  to  face,  to  cross-examine  the  witnesses,  to 
procure  counteracting  testimony,  or  to  be  heard  in  his 
defence.  The  safeguards  and  formalities  which  the  con- 
stitution has  connected  with  the  power  of  impeachment, 
were  doubtless  supposed  by  the  framers  of  that  instru- 
ment, to  be  essential  to  the  protection  of  the  public  ser- 
vant, to  the  attainment  of  justice,  and  to  the  order,  impar- 
tiality, and  dignity  of  the  procedure.  These  safeguards 
and  formalities  were  not  only  practically  disregarded,  in 
the  commencement  and  conduct  of  these  proceedings, 
but,  in  their  result,  I  find  myself  convicted  by  less  than  two 
thirds  of  the  members  present,  of  an  impeachable  offence. 
In  vain  may  it  be  alleged  in  defence  of  this  proceed- 
ing, that  the  form  of  the  resolution  is  not  that  of  an  im- 
peachment or  of  judgment  thereupon — that  the  punish- 
ment prescribed  in  the  constitution  does  not  follow  its 
adoption,  or  that  in  this  case  no  impeachment  is  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  House  of  Representatives.  It  is  because 
it  did  not  assume  the  form  of  an  impeachment,  that  it  is 
the  more  palpably  repugnant  to  the  constitution ;  for  it  is 
through  that  form  only  that  the  President  is  judicially 
responsible  to  the  Senate ;  and  though  neither  removal 
from  office  or  future  disqualification  ensues,  yet  it  is  not 
to  be  presumed,  that  the  framers  of  the  constitution  con- 
sidered either  or  both  of  these  results  as  constituting  the 
whole  of  the  punishment  they  prescribed.  The  judg- 
ment of  guilty  by  the  highest  tribunal  in  the  Union  ;  the 
stigma  it  would  inflict  on  the  offender,  his  family  and 
fame ;  and  the  perpetual  record  on  the  journal,  handing 
down  to  future  generations  the  story  of  his  disgrace,  were 
doubtless  regarded  by  them  as  the  bitterest  portions,  if 
not  the  very  essence,  of  that  punishment.  So  far,  there- 
fore, as  some  of  its  most  material  parts  are  concerned, 
the  passage  recording  and  promulgation  of  the  resolution 
are  an  attempt  to  bring  them  on  the  President,  in  a  man- 
ner unauthorized  by  the  constitution.  To  shield  him 
and  other  officers  who  are  liable  to  impeachment,  from 
consequences  so  momentous,  except  when  really  merited 
by  official  delinquencies,  the  constitution  has  most  cau- 


202  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tiously  guarded  the  whole  process  of  impeachment.  A 
majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives  must  think  the 
officer  guilty  before  he  can  be  charged.  Two  thirds  of 
the  Senate  must  pronounce  him  guilty,  or  he  is  deemed 
to  be  innocent.  Forty-six  Senators  appear  by  the' jour- 
nal to  have  been  present  when  the  vote  on  the  resolution 
was  taken.  If,  after  all  the  solemnities  of  an  impeach- 
ment, thirty  of  those  Senators  had  voted  that  the  Presi- 
dent was  guilty,  yet  would  he  have  been  acquitted  ;  but 
by  the  mode  of  proceeding  adopted  in  the  present  case, 
a  lasting  record  of  conviction  has  been  entered  up  by 
the  votes  of  twenty-six  Senators,  without  an  impeach- 
ment or  trial  ;  whilst  the  constitution  expressly  declares, 
that  to  the  entry  of  such  a  judgment  on  accusation  by 
the  House  of  Representatives,  a  trial  by  the  Senate,  and 
a  concurrence  of  two  thirds  in  the  vote  of  guilty,  shall 
be  indispensable  pre-requisites. 

Whether  or  not  an  impeachment  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  a  point  on  which 
the  Senate  had  no  constitutional  right  to  speculate,  and 
in  respect  to  which,  even  had  it  possessed  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  its  anticipations  would  have  furnished  no  just 
grounds  for  this  procedure.  Admitting  that  there  was 
reason  to  believe  that  a  violation  of  the  constitution  and 
laws  had  been  actually  committed  by  the  President,  still 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  Senate,  as  his  sole  constitutional 
judges,  to  wait  for  an  impeachment  until  the  other  House 
should  think  proper  to  prefer  it.  The  members  of  the 
Senate  could  have  no  right  to  infer  that  no  impeachment 
was  intended.  On  the  contrary,  every  legal  and  rational 
presumption  on  their  part  ought  to  have  been,  that  if 
there  was  good  reason  to  believe  him  guilty  of  an  im- 
peachable  offence,  the  House  of  Representatives  would 
perform  its  constitutional  duty,  by  arraigning  the  offend- 
er before  the  justice  of  his  country.  The  contrary  pre- 
sumption would  involve  an  implication  derogatory  to  the 
integrity  and  honor  of  the  representatives  of  the  people. 
But  suppose  the  suspicion  thus  implied  were  actually  en- 
tertained, and  for  good  cause,  how  can  it  justify  the  as- 
sumption by  the  Senate  of  powers  not  conferred  by  the 
constitution? 


PROTEST.  203 

It  is  only  necessary  to  look  at  the  condition  in  which 
the  Senate  and  President  have  been  placed  by  this  proce- 
dure, to  perceive  its  utter  incompatibility  with  the  pro- 
visions and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  with  the 
plainest  dictates  of  humanity  and  justice. 

If  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  of  opinion 
that  there  is  just  ground  for  the  censure  pronounced  upon 
the  President,  then  it  will  be  the  solemn  duty  of  the  house 
to  prefer  the  proper  accusation,  and  to  cause  him  to  be 
brought  to  trial  by  the  constitutional  tribunal.  But  in 
what  condition  would  he  find  that  tribunal  ?  A  majority 
of  its  members  have  already  considered  the  case,  and 
have  not  only  formed,  but  expressed  a  deliberate  judg- 
ment upon  its  merits.  It  is  the  policy  of  our  benign  sys- 
tems of  jurisprudence,  to  secure  in  all  criminal  proceed- 
ings, and  even  in  the  most  trivial  litigations,  a  fair,  un- 
prejudiced, and  impartial  trial.  And  surely  it  cannot  be 
less  important  that  such  a  trial  should  be  secured  to  the 
highest  officer  of  the  government. 

The  constitution  makes  the  House  of  Representatives 
the  exclusive  judges,  in  the  first  instance,  of  the  question, 
whether  the  President  has  committed  an  impeachable  of- 
fence. A  majority  of  the  Senate,  whose  interference 
with  this  preliminary  question  has,  for  the  best  of  all  rea- 
sons, been  studiously  excluded,  anticipate  the  action  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  assume  not  only  the  func- 
tion which  belongs  exclusively  to  that  body,  but  convert 
themselves  into  accusers,  witnesses,  counsel,  and  judges, 
and  prejudge  the  whole  case.  Thus  presenting  the  ap- 
palling spectacle  in  a  free  state,  of  judges  going  through 
;i  labored  preparation  for  an  impartial  hearing  and  deci- 
sion, by  a  previous  ex  parte  investigation  and  sentence 
against  the  supposed  offender. 

There  is  no  settled  axiom  in  that  government  whence 
we  derive  the  model  of  this  our  constitution,  than  "  that 
the  lords  cannot  impeach  any  to  themselves,  nor  join  in 
the  accusation,  because  they  are  judges."  Independent- 
ly of  the  general  reasons  on  which  this  rule  is  founded, 
its  propriety  and  importance  are  greatly  increased  by  the 
nature  of  the  impeaching  power.  The  power  of  arraign- 
ing the  high  officers  of  government,  before  a  tribunal 


204  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

whose  sentence  may  expel  them  from  their  seats,  and 
brand  them  as  infamous,  is  eminently  a  popular  remedy — 
a  remedy  designed  to  be  employed  for  the  protection  of 
private  right  and  public  liberty,  against  the  abuses  of  in- 
justice and  the  encroachment  of  arbitrary  power.  But 
the  framers  of  the  constitution  were  also  undoubtedly 
aware,  that  this  formidable  instrument  has  been  and  might 
be  abused ;  and  that  from  its  very  nature,  an  impeach- 
ment for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  whatever  might 
be  its  result,  would  in  most  cases  be  accompanied  by  so 
much  of  dishonor  and  reproach,  solicitude  and  suffering, 
as  to  make  the  power  of  preferring  it,  one  of  the  highest 
solemnity  and  importance.  It  was  due  to  both  these  con- 
siderations that  the  impeaching  power  should  be  lodged 
in  the  hands  of  those  who,  from  the  mode  of  their  elec- 
tion and  the  tenor  of  their  offices,  would  most  accurately 
express  the  popular  will,  and  at  the  same  time  be  most 
directly  and  speedily  amenable  to  the  people.  The  theo- 
ry of  these  wise  and  benignant  intentions  is,  in  the  pre- 
sent case,  effectually  defeated  by  the  proceedings  of  the 
Senate.  The  members  of  that  body  represent  not  the 
people,  but  the  states ;  and  though  they  are  undoubtedly 
responsible  to  the  states,  yet,  from  their  extended  term 
of  service,  the  effect  of  that  responsibility,  during  the 
whole  period  of  that  term,  must  very  much  depend  upon 
their  own  impressions  of  its  obligatory  force.  When  a 
body,  thus  constituted,  expresses  beforehand  its  opinion 
in  a  particular  case,  and  thus  indirectly  invites  a  prosecu- 
tion, it  not  only  assumes  a  power  intended  for  wise  rea- 
sons to  be  confined  to  others,  but  it  shields  the  latter 
from  that  exclusive  and  personal  responsibility  under 
which  it  was  intended  to  be  exercised,  and  reverses  the 
whole  scheme  of  this  part  of  the  constitution. 

Such  would  be  some  of  the  objections  to  this  proce- 
dure, even  if  it  were  admitted  that  there  is  a  just  ground 
for  imputing  to  the  President,  the  offences  charged  in 
the  resolution.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  House  of 
Representatives  shall  be  of  opinion  that  there  is  no  rea- 
son for  charging  them  upon  him,  and  shall  therefore 
deem  it  improper  to  prefer  an  impeachment,  then  will 
the  violations  of  that  privilege  as  it  respects  that  house, 


•• 

„«*  • 

PROTEST.  205 

of  justice  as  it  regards  the  President,  and  of  the  consti- 
tution as  it  relates  to  both,  be  only  the  more  conspicuous 
and  impressive. 

The  constitutional  mode  of  procedure  on  an  impeach- 
ment, has  not  only  been  wholly  disregarded,  but  some  of 
the  first  principles  of  natural  right  and  enlightened  juris- 
prudence have  been  violated  in  the  very  form  of  the  re- 
solution. It  carefully  abstains  from  averring  in  which  of 
"  the  late  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue, 
the  President  has  assumed  upon  himself  authority  and 
power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws."  It 
carefully  abstains  from  specifying  what  laws  or  what 
parts  of  the  constitution  have  been  violated.  Why 
was  not  the  certainty  of  the  offence — "  the  nature  and 
cause  of  the  accusation" — set  out  in  the  manner  required 
in  the  constitution,  before  the  humblest  individual,  for  the 
smallest  crime,  can  be  exposed  to  condemnation  ?  Such 
a  specification  was  due  to  the  accused,  that  he  might  di- 
rect his  defence  to  the  real  point  of  attack  ;  to  the  peo^ 
pie,  that  they  might  clearly  understand  in  what  particu- 
lars their  institutions  had  been  violated :  and  to  the  truth 
and  certainty  of  our  public  annals.  As  the  record  now 
stands,  whilst  the  resolution  plainly  charges  upon  the 
President  at  least  one  act  of  usurpation  in  the  "  late  ex- 
ecutive proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue," 
and  is  so  framed  that  those  Senators  who  believed  that 
one  such  act,  and  only  one,  had  been  committed,  could 
assent  to  it ;  its  language  is  yet  broad  enough  to  include 
several  such  acts ;  and  so  it  may  have  been  regarded  by 
some  of  them  who  voted  for  it.  But  though  the  accusa- 
tion is  thus  comprehensive  in  the  censures  which  it  im- 
plies, there  is  no  such  certainty  of  time,  place,  or  cir- 
cumstance, as  to  exhibit  the  particular  conclusion  of  fact 
or  law  which  induced  any  one  Senator  to  vote  for  it. 
And  it  may  well  have  happened,  that  whilst  one  Senator 
believed  that  some  particular  act  embraced  in  the  resolu- 
tion, was  an  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  assumption 
of  povvcr,  others  of  the  majority  may  have  deemed  that 
very  act  both  constitutional  and  expedient,  or  if  not  ex- 
pedient, yet  still  within  the  pale  of  the  constitution.  And 
thus  a  majority  of  the  Senators  may  have  been  enabled 
13 


206  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

to  concur  In  a  vague  and  undefined  resolution  that  the 
President,  in  the  course  of  the  "  late  executive  proceed- 
ings in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,"  had  violated  the 
constitution  and  laws,  whilst,  if  a  separate  vote  had  been 
taken  in  respect  to  each  particular  act,  included  within 
the  general  terms,  the  accusers  of  the  President  might, 
on  any  such  vote,  have  been  found  in  the  minority. 

Still  further  to  exemplify  this  feature  of  the  proceed- 
ing, it  is  important  to  be  remarked,  that  the  resolution, 
as  originally  offered  to  the  Senate,  specified  with  ade- 
quate precision  certain  acts  of  the  President,  which  it 
denounced  as  a  violation  of  the  constitution  and  laws  ; 
and  that  it  was  not  until  the  very  close  of  the  debate, 
and  when  perhaps  it  was  apprehended  that  a  majority 
might  not  sustain  the  specific  accusation  contained  in  it, 
that  the  resolution  was  so  modified  as  to  assume  its  pre- 
sent form.  A  more  striking  illustration  of  the  soundness 
and  necessity  of  the  rules  which  forbid  vague  and  inde- 
finite generalities,  and  require  a  reasonable  certainty  in 
all  judicial  allegations ;  and  a  more  glaring  instance  of 
the  violation  of  those  rules,  has  seldom  been  exhibited. 

In  this  view  of  the  resolution,  it  must  certainly  be  re- 
garded not  as  a  vindication  of  any  particular  provision  of 
the  law  or  the  constitution,  but  simply  as  an  official  re- 
buke or  condemnatory  sentence,  too  general  and  indefinite 
to  be  easily  repelled,  but  yet  sufficiently  precise  to  bring 
into  discredit  the  conduct  and  motives  of  the  executive. 

But  whatever  it  may  have  been  intended  to  accomplish, 
it  is  obvious,  that  the  vague,  general,  and  abstract  form 
of  the  resolution  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  those  other 
departures  from  first  principles  and  settled  improvements 
in  jurisprudence,  so  properly  the  boast  of  free  countries 
in  modern  times.  And  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  of  the 
whole  of  these  proceedings,  that  if  they  shall  be  approved 
and  sustained  by  an  intelligent  people,  then  will  that 
great  contest  with  arbitrary  power,  which  had  established 
institutes,  in  bills  of  rights,  in  sacred  charters,  and  in 
constitutions  of  government,  the  right  of  every  citizen, 
t6  a  notice  before  trial,  to  a  hearing  before  conviction, 
and  to  an  impartial  tribunal  for  deciding  on  the  charge, 
hare  been  waged  in  vain. 


PROTEST.  207 

If  the  resolution  had  been  left  in  its  original  form,  it  is 
not  to  be  presumed  that  it  could  ever  have  received  the 
assent  of  a  majority  of  the -Senate,  for  the  acts  therein 
specified  as  violations  of  the  constitution  and  laws,  were 
clearly  within  the  limits  of  the  executive  authority.  They 
are  the  "  dismissing  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
because  he  would  not,  contrary  to  his  sense  of  his  own 
duty,  remove  the  money  of  the  United  States  in  deposit 
with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches  in 
conformity  with  the  President's  opinion  ;  and  appointing 
his  successor  to  effect  such  a  removal,  which  has  been 
done."  But  as  no  other  specification  has  been  substitu- 
ted, and  as  these  were  the  "  executive  proceedings  in  re- 
lation to  the  public  revenue,"  principally  referred  to  in 
the  course  of  the  discussion,  they  will  doubtless  be  ge- 
nerally regarded  as  the  acts  intended  to  be  denounced  as 
"  an  assumption  of  authority  and..power,  not  conferred 
by  the  constitution  or  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both." 
It  is  therefore  due  to  the  occasion  that  a  condensed  sum- 
mary of  the  views  of  the  executive  in  respect  to  them, 
should  be  here  exhibited. 

By  the  constitution  the  "  executive  power  is  vested  in 
the  President  of  the  United  States."  Among  the  duties 
imposed  upon  him,  and  which  he  is  sworn  to  perform,  is 
that  of  "  taking  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed." 
Being  thus  made  responsible  for  the  entire  action  of  the 
executive  department,  it  was  but  reasonable  that  the  power 
of  appointing,  overseeing,  and  controlling  those  who  ex- 
ecute the  laws — a  power  i£  its  nature  executive — should 
remain  in  his  hands.  It  is  therefore  not  only  his  right, 
but  the  constitution  makes  it  his  duty,  to  "  nominate, 
and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
appoint"  all  "  officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  ap- 
pointments are  not  in  the  constitution  otherwise  provided 
for,"  with  the  proviso  that  the  appointment  of  inferior 
officers  may  be  vested  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts 
of  justice,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

The  executive  power  vested  in  the  Senate  is  neither 
that  of  "  nominating,"  nor  "  appointing."  It  is  merely 
a  check  upon  the  executive  power  of  appointment.  If 
individuals  are  proposed  for  appointment  by  the  Presi- 


208  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

dent,  by  them  deemed  incompetent  or  unworthy,  they 
may  withhold  their  consent,  and  the  appointment  cannot 
be  made.  They  check  the  -action  of  the  executive,  but 
cannot  in  relation  to  these  very  subjects  act  themselvet 
nor  direct  him.  Selections  are  still  made  by  the  Presi- 
dent, and  the  negative  given  to  the  Senate,  without  di- 
minishing his  responsibility,  furnishes  an  additional  gua- 
rantee to  the  country  that  the  subordinate  executive,  a» 
well  as  the  judicial  offices,  shall  be  filled  with  worthy  and 
competent  men. 

The  whole  executive  power  being  vested  in  the  Presi- 
dent who  is  responsible  for  its  exercise,  it  is  a  necessary 
consequence  that  he  should  have  aright  to  employ  agents 
of  his  own  choice  to  aid  him  in  the  performance  of  hi» 
duties,  and  to  discharge  them  when  he  is  no  longer  will- 
ing to  be  responsible  for  their  acts.  In  strict  accordance 
with  this  principle,  the  power  of  removal,  which,  like  that 
ef  appointment,  is  an  original  executive  power,  is  left 
unchecked  by  the  constitution  in  relation  to  all  executive 
officers,  for  whose  conduct  the  President  is  responsible, 
while  it  is  taken  from  him  in  relation  to  judicial  officers, 
for  whose  acts  he  is  not  responsible.  In  the  government 
from  which  many  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our 
system  are  derived,  the  head  of  the  executive  department 
originally  had  power  to  appoint  and  remove  at  will  all 
officers,  executive  and  judicial.  It  was  to  take  the  judges 
out  of  this  general  power  of  removal,  and  thus  make  them 
independent  of  the  executive,  that  the  tenure  of  their 
offices  was  changed  to  good  behavior.  Nor  is  it  conceiva- 
ble why  they  are  placed  in  our  constitution  upon  a  tenure 
different  from  that  of  all  other  officers  appointed  by  the 
executive,  unless  it  be  for  the  same  purpose. 

But  if  there  were  any  just  ground  for  doubt  on  the 
face  of  the  constitution,  whether  all  executive  officers  are 
removable  at  the  will  of  the  President,  it  is  obviated  by 
contemporaneous  construction  of  the  instrument  and  th« 
uniform  practice  under  it. 

The  power  of  removal  was  a  topic  of  solemn  debate  lit 
the  Congress  of  1789,  while  organizing  the  administra- 
tive departments  of  the  government,  and  it  was  finally 
decided,  that  the  President  derived  from  the  constitution 


PROTEST.  209 

the  power  of  removal,  so  far  as  it  regards  the  department 
for  whose  acts  he  is  responsible.  Although  the  debate 
covered  the  whole  ground,  embracing  the  treasury  as  well 
as  all  other  executive  departments,  it  arose  on  a  motion 
to  strike  oat  of  the  bill  to  establish  a  department  of  for- 
eign affairs,  since  called  the  department  of  state,  a  clause 
declaring  the  secretary  "  to  be  removable  from  office  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States."  After  that  motion 
had  been  decided  in  the  negative,  it  was  perceived  that 
these  words  did  not  convey  the  sense  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  relation  to  the  true  source  of  the  pow- 
er of  removal.  With  the  avowed  object  of  preventing 
any  future  inference,  that  this  power  was  exercised  by 
the  President  in  virtue  of  a  grant  from  Congress,  when 
in  fact  that  body  considered  it  as  derived  from  the  consti- 
tution, the  words  which  had  been  the  subject  of  debate 
were  struck  out,  and  in  lieu  thereof  a  clause  was  inserted 
in  a  provision  concerning  the  chief  clerk  of  the  depart- 
ment, which  declared  that  "  whenever  the  said  principal 
officer  shall  be  removed  from  office  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  other  case  of  vacancy,"  the  chief 
clerk  should  during  such  vacancy  have  charge  of  the 
papers  of  the  office.  This  change  having  been  made  for 
the  express  purpose  of  declaring  the  sense  of  Congress 
that  the  President  derived  the  power  of  removal  from  the 
constitution,  the  act  as  it  passed  has  always  been  consid- 
ered as  a  full  expression  of  the  sense  of  the  legislature 
on  this  important  part  of  the  American  constitution. 

Here  then  we  have  the  concurrent  authority  of  Presi- 
dent Washington,  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, numbers  of  whom  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
convention  which  framed  the  constitution,  and  in  the 
state  convention  which  adopted  it,  that  the  President 
derived  an  unqualified  power  of  removal  from  that  in- 
strument itself,  which  is  "  beyond  the  reach  of  legislative 
authority."  Upon  this  principle  the  government  has  now 
been  steadily  administered  for  about  forty-five  years,  du- 
ring which  there  have  been  numerous  removals  made  by 
the  President  or  by  his  direction,  embracing  every  grade 
of  executive  officers,  from  the  heads  of  departments  to 
the  messengers  of  bureaus. 
"18* 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Tne  treasury  department,  in  the  discussion  of  1789, 
was  considered  on  the  same  footing  as  the  other  execu- 
tive departments,  and  in  the  act  establishing  it,  the  pre- 
cise words  incorporated  indicative  of  the  sense  of  Con- 
gress, that  the  President  derives  his  power  to  remove  the 
secretary  from  the  constitution,  which  appear  in  the  act 
establishing  the  department  of  foreign  affairs.  An  assist- 
ant secretary  of  the  treasury  was  created,  and  it  was 
provided  that  he  should  take  charge  of  the  books  and 
papers  of  the  department,  "  whenever  the  secretary  shall 
be  removed  from  office  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States."  The  secretary  of  the  treasury  being  appointed 
by  the  President,  and  being  considered  as  constitutionally 
removable  by  him,  it  appears  never  to  have  occurred  to 
any  one  in  the  Congress  of  1789,  or  since,  until  very 
recently,  that  he  was  other  than  an  executive  ofiicer,  th« 
mere  instrument  of  the  chief  magistrate  in  the  execution 
of  the  laws,  subject,  like  all  other  heads  of  departments, 
to  his  supervision  and  control.  No  such  idea  as  an  offi- 
cer of  the  Congress,  can  be  found  in  the  constitution,  or 
appears  to  have  suggested  itself  to  those  who  organized 
the  government.  There  are  officers  of  each  house,-  the 
appointment  of  which  is  authorized  by  the  constitution, 
but  all  officers  referred  to  in  that  instrument,  as  coming 
within  the  appointing  power  of  the  President,  whether 
established  thereby  or  created  by  law,  are  "  officers  of 
the  United  States."  No  joint  power  of  appointment  is 
given  to  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  nor  is  there  any 
accountability  to  them  as  one  body  ;  but  as  soon  as  any 
office  is  created  by  law,  of  whatever  name  or  character., 
the  appointment  of  the  person  or  persons  to  fill  it,  de- 
volves by  the  constitution  upon  the  President,  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  unless  it  be  an  inferior 
office,  and  the  appointment  be  vested  by  the  law  itself 
"  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  the  heads 
of  the  departments." 

But  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  treasury 
department,  an  incident  occurred  which  distinctly  evince* 
the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the  first  Congress  in  the 
principle  that  the  treasury  department  is  wholly  ex- 
ecutive in  its  character  and  responsibilities.  A  motion 


.    ;^ 

PROTEST.  211 

was  made«to  strike  out  the  provision  of  the  bill  making 
it  the  duty  of  the  secretary  "  to  digest  and  report  for  the 
improvement  and  management  of  the  revenue,  and  for 
the  support  of  public  credit,"  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
give  the  executive  department  of  the  government  too 
much  influence  and  power  in  Congress.  The  motion  was 
not  opposed  on  the  ground  that  the  secretary  was  tbe 
officer  of  Congress,  and  responsible  to  that  body,  which 
would  have  been  conclusive,  if  admitted,  but  on  other 
grounds  which  conceded  his  executive  character  through- 
out. The  whole  discussion  evinc"es  a  unanimous  concur- 
rence iu  the  principle  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
is  wholly  an  executive  officer,  and  the  struggle  ''of  the 
minority  was  to  restrict  his  power  as  such.  From  that 
time  down  to  the  present,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
the  treasurer,  register,  comptrollers,  auditors,  and  clerks, 
who  fill  the  offices  of  that  department,  have  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  government,  been  considered  and  treated  as 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  corresponding  grades  of  of- 
ficers in  all  the  other  executive  departments. 

The  custody  of  the  public  property,  under  such  regu- 
lations as  may  be  prescribed  by  legislative  authority,  has 
always  been  considered  an  appropriate  function  of  the 
executive  department  in  this  and  all  other  governments. 
In  accordance  with  this  principle,  every  species  of  pro- 
perty belonging  to  the  United  States  (excepting  that  which 
is  in  the  use  of  the  several  co-ordinate  departments  of 
the  government,  as  means  to  aid  them  in  performing  their 
appropriate  functions)  is  in  charge  of  officers  appointed 
by  the  President,  whether  it  be  lands,  or  buildings,  or 
merchandise,  or  provisions,  or  clothing,  or  arms  and  mu- 
nitions of  war.  The  superintendents  and  keepers  of  the 
whole  are  appointed  by  the  President,  responsible  to  him, 
and  removable  at  his  will. 

Public  money  is  but  a  species  of  public  property.  It 
«annot  be  raised  by  taxations  or  customs,  nor  brought 
into  the  treasury  in  any  other  way  except  by  law;  but 
whenever  or  howsoever  obtained,  its  custody  always  has 
been,  and  always  must  be,  unless  the  constitution  be 
changed,  intrusted  to  the  executive  department.  No  of- 
ficer can  be  created  by  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  taking 


212  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

charge  of  it,  whose  appointment  would  not,  by  the  con- 
stitution, at  once  devolve  on  the  President,  and  who 
would  not  be  responsible  to  him  for  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  his  duties.  The  legislative  power  may  undoubt- 
edly bind  him  and  the  President,  by  any  laws  they  may 
think  proper  to  enact ;  they  may  prescribe  in  what  place 
particular  portions  of  the  public  money  shall  be  kept,  and 
for  what  reasons  it  shall  be  removed,  as  they  may  direct 
that  supplies  for  the  army  or  navy  shall  be  kept  in  parti- 
cular stores ;  and  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  President 
to  see  that  the  law  is  faithfully  executed — yet  will  the 
custody  remain  in  the  executive  department  of  the  go- 
vernment. Were  the  Congress  to  assume,  with  or  with- 
out a  legislative  act,  the  power  of  appointing  officers  inde- 
pendently of  the  President,  to  take  the  charge  and  custo- 
dy of  the  public  property  contained  in  the  military  and 
naval  arsenals,  magazines,  and  storehouses,  it  is  believed 
that  such  an  act  would  be  regarded  by  all  as  a  palpable 
usurpation  of  executive  power,  subversive  of  the  form  as 
well  as  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  government. 
But  where  is  the  difference  in  principle,  whether  the 
public  property  be  in  the  form  of  arms,  munitions  of  war, 
and  supplies,  or  in  gold  and  silver,  or  bank  notes?  None 
can  be  perceived — none  is  believed  to  exist.  Congress 
cannot,  therefore,  take  out  of  the  hands  of  the  executive 
department,  the  custody  of  the  public  property  or  money, 
without  an  assumption  of  executive  power,  and  subver- 
sion of  the  first  principles  of  the  constitution. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  have  never  passed 
an  act  imperatively  directing  that  the  public  money  shall 
be  kept  in  any  particular  place  or  places.  From  the  ori- 
gin of  the  government  to  the  year  1816,  the  statute  book 
was  wholly  silent  on  the  subject.  In  1789,  a  treasurer 
was  created,  subordinate  to  the  secretary  of  the  treasu- 
ry, and  through  him  to  the  President.  He  was  required 
to  give  bond,  safely  to  keep,  and  faithfully  to  disburse 
the  public  moneys,  without  any  direction  as  to  the  man- 
ner or  places  in  which  they  should  be  kept.  By  refer- 
ence to  the  practice  of  the  government,  it  is  found  that 
from  its  first  organization,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
acting  under  the  supervision  of  the  President,  designated 


PROTEST.  213 

the  places  in  which  the  public  moneys  should  be  kept, 
and  specially  directed  all  transfers  from  place  to  place. 
This  practice  was  continued,  with  the  silent  acquiescence 
of  Congress,  from  1789  down  .to  1816;  and  although 
many  banks  were  selected  and  discharged,  and  although 
a  portion  of  the  moneys  were  first  placed  in  the  state 
banks,  and  then  in  the  former  banks  of  the  United  States, 
and  upon  the  dissolution  of  that,  were  again  transferred 
to  the  state  banks,  no  legislation  was  thought  necessary 
by  Congress,  and  all  the  operations  were  originated  and 
perfected  by  executive  authority.  The  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  responsible  to  the  President,  and  with  his  ap- 
probation, made  contracts  and  arrangements  in  relation 
to  the  whole  subject,  which  was  thus  entirely  committed 
to  the  direction  of  the  President,  under  his  responsibili 
ties  to  the  American  people,  and  to  those  who  were  au- 
thorized to  impeach  and  punish  him  for  any  breach  of 
this  important  trust. 

The  act  of  1816,  establishing  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  directed  the  deposits  of  public  money  to  be  made 
in  that  bank  and  its  branches,  in  places  in  which  the  said 
bank  and  branches  thereof  may  be  established,  "  unless 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury  should  otherwise  order  and 
direct,"  in  which  event  he  was  required  to  give  his  rea-* 
aons  to  Congress.  This  was  but  a  continuation  of  his 
pre-existing  powers  as  the  head  of  the  executive  depart- 
ment, to  direct  where  the  deposits  should  be  made,  with 
the  superadded  obligation  of  giving  his  reasons  to  Con- 
gress for  making  them  elsewhere  than  in  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  and  its  branches.  It  is  not  to  be  consi- 
dered that  this  provision  in  any  degree  altered  the  relation 
between  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  and  the  President, 
as  the  responsible  head  of  the  executive  department,  or 
released  the  latter  from  his  constitutional  obligation  to 
"  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  On 
the  contrary,  it  increased  his  responsibilities,  by  adding 
another  to  the  long  list  of  laws  which  it  was  his  duty  to 
carry  into  effect. 

It  would  be  an  extraordinary  result,  if,  because  the 
person  charged  by  the  law  with  a  public  duty,  is  one  of 
the  secretaries,  it  were  less  the  duty  of  the  President  to 


214  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

•ee  that  law  faithfully  executed,  than  other  laws  enjoin- 
ing duties  upon  subordinate  officers  or  private  citizens. 
If  there  be  any  difference,  it  would  seem  that  the  obliga- 
tion is  the  stronger  in  relation  to  the  former,  because  the 
neglect  is  in  his  presence,  and  the  remedy  at  hand. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  it  was  the  legal  duty  of  tho 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  to  order  and  direct  the  depo- 
sits of  the  public  money  to  be  made  elsewhere  than  in 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  whenever  sufficient  rea- 
sons existed  for  making  the  change.  If,  in  such  case,  he 
neglected  or  refused  to  act,  he  would  neglect  or  refuse  to 
execute  the  law.  What  would  then  be  the  sworn  duty  of 
the  President  ?  Could  he  say  that  the  constitution  did 
not  bind  him  to  see  the  law  faithfully  executed,  because 
it  was  one  of  his  secretaries,  and  not  himself  upon  whom 
the  service  was  specially  imposed  ?  Might  he  not  be  asked 
whether  there  was  any  such  limitation  to  his  obligations 
prescribed  in  the  constitution  ?  whether  he  was  not 
equally  bound  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  exe- 
cuted, whether  they  impose  duties  on  the  highest  officer 
of  state,  or  the  lowest  subordinate  in  any  of  the  departr 
ments?  Might  he  not  be  told,  that  it  was  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  causing  all  executive  officers,  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest,  faithfully  to  perform  the  services  required 
of  them  by  law,  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
have  made  him  their  chief  magistrate,  and  the  constitu- 
tion has  clothed  him  with  the  entire  executive  power  of 
this  government  ?  The  principles  implied  in  these  ques- 
tions appear  too  plain  to  need  elucidation. 

But  here,  also,  we  have  a  cotemporaneous  construction 
of  the  act,  which  shows  that  it  was  not  understood  as  in 
any  way  changing  the  relations  between  the  President 
and  secretary  of  the  treasury,  or  as  placing  the  latter  out 
of  executive  control,  even  in  relation  to  the  deposits  of 
the  public  money.  Nor  on  this  point  are  we  left  to  any 
equivocal  testimony.  The  documents  of  the  treasury  de- 
partment show  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  did  apply 
to  the  President,  and  obtain  his  approbation  and  sanction 
to  the  original  transfer  of  the  public  deposits  to  the  pre- 
sent Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  did  carry  the  mea- 
sure into  effect  in  obedience  to  his  decision.  They  also 


PROTEST. 

show  that  the  transfers  of  the  public  deposits  from  the 
branches  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  the  state 
banks,  at  Chilicothe,  Cincinnati,  and  Louisville,  in  1819, 
were  made  with  the  approbation  of  the  President,  and  by 
his  authority.  They  show  that  upon  all  important  ques- 
tions appertaining  to  his  department,  whether  they  related 
to  the  public  deposits  or  other  matters,  it  was  the  con- 
stant practice  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  obtain 
for  his  acts  the  approval  and  sanction  of  the  President. 
These  acts,  and  the  principles  on  which  they  were  found- 
ed, were  known  to  all  the  departments  of  the  government, 
to  Congress,  and  the  country;  and  until"  very  recently, 
appear  never  to  have  been  called  in  question. 

Thus  it  was  settled  by  the  constitution,  the  laws,  and 
the  whole  practice  of  the  government,  that  the  entire 
executive  power  is  vested  in  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  that  as  incident  to  that  power,  the  right  of  appoint- 
ing and  removing  those  officers  who  are  to  aid  him  in  the 
execution  of  the  laws,  with  such  restrictions  only  as  the 
constitution  prescribes,  is  vested  in  the  President ;  that 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury  is  one  of  those  officers ;  that 
the  custody  of  the  public  property  and  money  is  an  ex- 
ecutive function,  which,  in  relation  to  the  money,  has 
always  been  exercised  through  the  secretary  of  the  trea- 
sury and  his  subordinates  ;  that  in  the  performance  of 
these  duties,  he  is  subject  to  the  supervision  and  control 
of  the  President,  and  in  all  important  measures  having 
relation  to  them,  consults  the  chief  magistrate,  and  obtains 
his  approval  and  sanction ;  that  the  law  establishing  the 
bank  did  not,  as  it  could  not,  change  the  relation  between 
the  President  and  secretary — did  not  release  the  former- 
from  his  obligation  to  see  the  law  faithfully  executed,  nor 
the  latter  from  the  President's  supervision  and  control  ; 
that  afterwards,  and  before,  the  secretary  did  in  fact  con- 
sult,  and  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  President,  to  transfers 
and  removals  of  the  public  deposits ;  and  that  all  depart- 
ments of  the  government,  and  the  nation  itself,  approved 
or  acquiesced  in  these  acts  and  principles,  as  in  strict 
conformity  with  our  constitution  and  laws. 

During  the  last  year,  the  approaching  termination,  ac- 
cording to  the  provisions  of  its  charter  and  the  solemn 


216  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

decision  of  the  American  people,  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  made  it  expedient,  and  its  exposed  abuses 
and  corruptions  made  it,  in  my  opinion,  the  duty  of  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury  to  place  the  moneys  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  in  other  depositories.  The  secretary  did  not 
concur  in  that  opinion,  and  declined  giving  the  necessary 
order  and  direction.  So  glaring  were  the  abuses  and 
corruption  of  the  bank,  so  evident  its  fixed  purpose  to 
persevere  in  them,  and  so  palpable  its  design,  by  its 
money  and  power,  to  control  the  government  and  change 
its  character,  that  I  deemed  it  the  imperative  duty  of  the 
executive  authority,  by  the  exertion  of  every  power  con- 
fided to  it  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  to  check  its  ca- 
reer, and  lessen  its  ability  to  do  mischief,  even  in  the 
painful  alternative  of  dismissing  the  head  of  one  of  the 
departments.  At  the  time  the  removal  was  made,  other 
causes  sufficient  to  justify  it  existed ;  but  if  they  had  not, 
the  secretary  would  have  been  dismissed  for  this  cause 
only. 

His  place  I  supplied  by  one  whose  opinions  were-well 
known  to  me,  and  whose  frank  expression  of  them,  in 
another  situation,  and  whose  generous  sacrifices  of  inte- 
rest and  feeling,  when  unexpectedly  called  to  the  station 
he  now  occupies,  ought  forever  to  have  shielded  his  mo- 
tives from  suspicion,  and  his  character  from  reproach. 
In  accordance  with  the  opinions  long  before  expressed 
by  him,  he  proceeded,  with  my  sanction,  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  depositing  the  moneys  of  the  United  States  in 
ether  safe  institutions. 

The  resolution  of  the  senate,  as  originally  framed  and 
as  passed,  if  it  refers  to  these  acts,  presupposes  a  right  in 
that  body  to  interfere  with  this  exercise  of  executive  pow- 
er. If  the  principle  be  once  admitted,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  perceive  where  it  may  end.  If,  by  a  mere  denuncia- 
tion like  this  resolution,  the  President  should  ever  be  in- 
duced to  act,  in  a  matter  of  official  duty,  contrary  to  Ihe 
honest  convictions  of  his  own  mind,  in  compliance  with 
the  wishes  of  the  Senate,  the  constitutional  independence 
of  the  executive  department  would  be  as  effectually  de- 
stroyed, and  its  power  as  effectually  transferred  to  the 
Senate,  as  if  that  end  had  been  accomplished  by  an  amcnti- 


PROTEST. 

ment  of  the  constitution.  But  if  the  Senate  have  a  right 
to  interfere  with  the  executive  powers,  they  have  also  the 
right  to  make  that  interference  effective;  and  if  the  as- 
sertion of  the  power  implied  in  the  resolution  be  silently 
acquiesced  in,  we  may  reasonably  apprehend  that  it  will 
be  followed,  at  some  future  day,  by  an  attempt  at  actual 
enforcement.  The  Senate  may  refuse,  except  on  the 
condition  that  he  will  surrender  his  opinions  to  theirs  and 
obey  their  will,  to  perform  their  own  constitutional  func- 
tions ;  to  pass  the  necessary  laws  ;  to  sanction  appropria- 
tions proposed  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to 
confirm  proper  nominations  made  by  the  President.  It 
has  already  been  maintained  (and  it  is  not  conceivable 
that  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  can  be  based  on  any 
other  principle,)  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  is  the 
officer  of  Congress,  and  independent  of  the  President; 
that,  the  President  has  no  right  to  control  him,  and  conse- 
quently none  to  remove  him.  With  the  same  propriety, 
and  on  similar  grounds,  may  the  secretary  of  state,  the 
secretaries  of  war  and  the  navy,  and  the  postmaster  gen- 
eral, each  in  succession,  be  declared  independent  of  the 
President,  and  subordinates  of  Congress,  and  removable 
only  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate.  Followed  to 
its  consequences,  the  principle  will  be  found  effectually 
to  destroy  one  co-ordinate  department  of  the  government, 
to  concentrate  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate  the  whole 
executive  power,  and  to  leave  the  President  as  powerless  as 
he  would  be  useless,  the  shadow  of  authority,  after  the 
substance  had  departed. 

The  time  and  the  occasion  which  have  called  forth  the 
resolution  of  the  Senate,  seem  to  impose  upon  me  an 
additional  obligation  riot  to  pass  it  over  in  silence.  Near- 
ly forty-five  years  had  the  President  exercised,  without  a 
question  as  to  his  rightful  authority,  those  powers  for  the 
recent  resumption  of  which  he  is  now  denounced.  The 
vicissitudes  of  peace  and  war  had  attended  our  govern- 
ment, violent  parties,  watchful  to  take  advantage  of  any 
seeming  usurpation  on  the  part  of  the  executive,  had  dis- 
tracted our  counsels ;  frequent  removals,  or  forced  resig- 
nations in  every  sense  tantamount  to  removals  had  been 
made  of  the  secretary  and  other  officers  of  the  treasury  ; 
and  yet,  in  no  one  instance,  is  it  known  that  any  man, 

10 


218  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

whether  patriot  or  partisan,  had  raised  his  voice  against 
it  as  a  violation  of  the  constitution.  The  expediency  and 
justice  of  such  changes,  in  reference  to  public  officers  of 
all  grades,  have  frequently  been  the  topics  of  discussion ; 
but  the  constitutional  right  of  the  President  to  appoint, 
control,  and  remove  the  head  of  the  treasury,  as  well 
as  all  other  departments,  seems  to  have  been  univer- 
sally conceded.  And  what  is  the  occasion  upon  which 
other  principles  have  been  first  officially  asserted  ?  The 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  a  great  moneyed  monopoly, 
had  attempted  to  obtain  a  renewal  of  its  charter,  by 
controlling  the  elections  of  the  people,  and  the  action 
of  the  government.  The  use  of  its  corporate  funds  and 
power  in  that  attempt,  was  fully  disclosed ;  and  it  was 
made  known  to  the  President  that  the  corporation  was  put- 
ting in  train  the  same  course  of  measures,  with  the  view 
of  making  another  vigorous  effort,  through  an  interference 
in  the  elections  of  the  people,  to  control  public  opinion 
and  force  the  government  to  yield  its  demands.  This, 
with  its  corruption  of  the  press,  its  violation  of  its  char- 
ter, its  exclusion  of  the  government  directors  from  its  pro- 
ceedings, its  neglect  of  duty,  and  arrogant  pretensions, 
made  it,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  incompatible 
with  the  public  interest  and  the  safety  of  our  institutions, 
that  it  should  be  longer  employed  as  the  fiscal  agent  of 
the  treasury.  A  secretary  of  the  treasury,  appointed  in 
the  recess  of  the  Senate,  who  had  not  been  confirmed  by 
that  body  and  whom  the  President  might  or  might  not 
at  his  pleasure  nominate  to  them,  refused  to  do  what  his 
superior  in  the  executive  department  considered  the  most 
imperative  of  hia  duties,  and  because  in  fact,  however  in- 
nocent his  motives,  the  protector  of  the  bank.  And  on 
this  occasion  it  is  discovered  for  the  first  time,  that  those 
who  framed  the  constitution  misunderstood  it ;  that  the 
first  Congress  and  all  its  successors  have  been  under  a 
delusion ;  that  the  practice  of  nearly  forty-five  years,  is 
but  a  continued  usurpation  ;  that  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  is  not  responsible  to  the  President ;  and  that  to 
remove  him  is  a  violation  of  the  constitution  and  laws, 
for  which  the  President  deserves  to  stand  forever  dishon- 
ored on  the  journals  of  the  Senate. 

There  are  also  some  other  circumstances  connected 


PROTEST.  219 

with  the  discussion  and  passage  of  the  resolution,  to 
which  I  feel  it  to  be  not  only  my  right  but  my  duty  to 
refer.  It  appears  by  the  journal  of  the  Senate,  that 
among  the  twenty-six  Senators  who  voted  for  the  resolu- 
tion on  its  final  passage,  and  who  had  supported  it  in  de- 
bate in  its  original  form,  were,  one  of  the  Senators  from 
the  state  of  Maine,  the  two  Senators  from  New  Jersey, 
and  one  of  the  Senators  from  Ohio.  It  also  appears  by 
the  same  journal,  and  by  the  files  of  the  Senate,  that  the 
legislatures  of  those  states  had  severally  expressed  their 
opinions  in  respect  to  the  executive  proceedings  drawn  in 
question  before  the  Senate. 

The  two  branches  of  the  legislature  of  the  state  of 
Maine,  on  the  25th  January,  1834,  passed  a  preamble 
and  series  of  resolutions  in  the  following  words : 

"  Whereas,  at  an  early  period  after  the  election  of  An- 
drew Jackson  to  the  presidency,  in  accordance  with  the 
sentiments  which  he  had  uniformly  expressed,  the  at- 
tention of  Congress  was  called  to  the  constitutionality 
and  expediency  of  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the 
United  States  Bank  ;  and  whereas  the  bank  has  transcend- 
ed its  chartered  limits  in  the  management  of  its  busi- 
ness transactions,  and  has  abandoned  the  object  of  its  cre- 
ation, by  engaging  in  political  controversies,  by  wield- 
ing its  power  and  influence  to  embarrass  the  administra- 
tion of  the  general  government,  and  by  bringing  insol- 
vency and  distress  upon  the  commercial  community ;  and 
whereas,  the  public  security  from  such  an  institution  con- 
sists less  in  its  present  pecuniary  capacity  to  discharge  its 
liabilities  than  in  the  fidelity  with  which  the  trusts  reposed 
in  it  have  been  executed ;  and  whereas,  the  abuse  and 
misapplication  of  the  powers  conferred  have  destroyed 
the  confidence  of  the  public  in  the  officers  of  the  bank, 
and  demonstrated  that  such  powers  endangered  the  sta- 
bility of  republican  institutions  :  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  removal  of  the  public  depo- 
sits from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  the 
manner  of  their  removal,  we  recognize  in  the  administra- 
tion an  adherence  to  constitutional  rights,  and  the  per- 
formance of  a  public  duty. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  legislature  entertain  the  same 


220  T1IE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

opinion  as  heretofore  expressed  by  preceding  legislatures 
of  this  state,  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ought 
not  to  be  rechartered. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Senators  of  this  state  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  be  instructed,  and  the 
Representatives  be  requested  to  oppose  the  restoration  of 
the  dcposites  and  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  Bank." 

On  the  llth  of  January,  1834,  the  House  of  Assembly 
and  Council  composing  the  legislature  of  the  state  of 
New  Jersey,  passed  a  preamble  and  a  series  of  resolutions, 
in  the  following  words  : 

"  Whereas  the  present  crisis  in  our  public  affairs  calls 
for  a  decided  expression  of  the  voice  of  the  people  of  this 
state  ;  and  whereas  we  consider  it  the  undoubted  tight  of 
the  legislatures  of  the  several  states  to  instruct  those  who 
represent  their  interests  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  in 
all  matters  which  intimately  concern  the  public  weal,  and 
may  affect  the  happiness  or  well-being  of  the  people; 
therefore, 

"  Be  it  resolved  by  the  Council  and  General  Assanlly 
of  this  state,  That  while  we  acknowledge  with  feelings 
of  devout  gratitude  our  obligations  to  the  great  Ruler  of 
nations  for  his  mercies  to  us  as  a  people,  that  we  have, 
been  preserved  alike  from  foreign  war,  from  the  evils  of 
internal  commotions,  and  the  machinations  of  designing 
and  ambitious  men,  who  would  prostrate  the  fair  fabric 
of  our  Union ;  that  we  ought,  nevertheless,  to  humble 
ourselves  in  his  presence,  and  implore  his  aid  for  the  per- 
petuation of  our  republican  institutions,  and  for  a  conti- 
nuance of  that  unexampled  prosperity  which  our  country 
has  hitherto  enjoyed. 

2d,  "  Resolved,  That  we  have  undiminished  confidence 
in  the  integrity  and  firmness  of  the  venerable  patriot,  who 
now  holds  the  distinguished  post  of  chief  magistrate  of 
this  nation,  and  whose  purity  of  purpose  and  elevated 
motives  have  so  often  received  the  unqualified  approba- 
tion of  a  large  majority  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

3d,  "  Resolved,  That  we  view  witli  agitation  and  alarm 
the  existence  of  a  great  moneyed  incorporation,  which 
threatens  to  embarrass  the  operations  of  the  government, 


»'••••<;       PROTEST.  221 

and  by  means  of  its  unbounded  influence  upon  the-  cur- 
rency of  the  country,  to  scatter  distress  and  ruin  through- 
out the  community  ;  and  that  we  therefore  solemnly  believe 
the  present  Bank  of  the  United  States  ought  not  to  be 
rechartered. 

4th,  "  Resolved,  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  in- 
structed, and  our  members  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives be  requested  to  sustain,  by  their  votes  and  influ- 
ence, the  course  adopted  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasu- 
ry, Mr.  Taney,  in  relation  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  and  the  deposits  of  the  government  moneys,  be- 
lieving as  we  do  the  course  of  the  secretary  to  have  been 
constitutional,  and  that  the  public  good  required  its  adop- 
tion." 

On  the  21st  of  February  last,  the  legislature  of  the 
same  state  reiterated  the  opinions  and  instructions  before 
given,  by  joint  resolutions,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Resolved  by  the  Council  and  General  Assembly  of 
the  state  of  New  Jersey,  That  they  do  adhere  to  the  re- 
solutions passed  by  them  on  the  llth  day  of  January  last, 
relative  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  course  of  Mr.  Taney  in 
removing  the  government  deposits, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey  have 
not  seen  any  reason  to  depart  from  such  resolutions  since 
the  passage  thereof;  and  it  is  their  wish  that  they  should 
receive  from  our  Senators  and  Representatives  of  this 
state  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  that  attention 
and  obedience  which  are  due  to  the  opinion  of  a  sove- 
reign state,  openly  expressed  in  its  legislative  capacity." 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1834,  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  composing  the  legislature  of  Ohio,  passed 
a  preamble  and  resolutions  in  the  following  words : 

"  Whereas,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  will  attempt  to  obtain  a  renewal  of  its 
charter  at  the  present  session  of  Congress.  And  where- 
as, it  is  abundantly  evident  that  said  bank  has  exercised 
powers  derogatory  to  the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions 
and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  these  United  States. 
And  whereas,  there  is  just  reason  to  doubt  the  constitu- 
tional power  of  Congress  to  grant  acts  of  incorporation 
19 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN, 

tor  banking  purposes  out  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
And  whereas,  we  believe  the  proper  disposal  of  the  pub- 
lic lands  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  people  of 
these  United  States,  and  that  honor  and  good  faith  re- 
quire their  equitable  distribution  :  Therefore, 

"Resolved  by  the  Gniiral  Assembly  of  the  state  of 
Ohio,  That  we  consider  the  removal  of  the  public  depo- 
sits from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  as  required  by 
the  best  interests  of  our  country,  and  that  a  proper  sense 
«>f  public  duty  imperiously  demanded  that  that  institution 
should  be  no  longer  used  as  a  depository  of  the  public 
funds. 

"  Resolved,  also,  That  we  view,  with  decided  disap- 
probation, the  renewed  attempts  in  Congress  to  secure 
the  passage  of  the  bill  providing  for  the  disposal  of  the 
publics-domain  upon  the  principle  proposed  by  Mr.  Clay, 
inasmuch  as  we  believe  that  such  a  law  would  be  unequal 
in  its  operations,  and  unjust  in  its  results. 

"  Resolved,  also,  That  we  heartily  approve  of  the 
-principles  set  forth  in  the  late  veto  message  upon  this 
subject,  and 

"  Resolved,  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instruct- 
ed, and  our  Representatives  requested,  to  use  their  influ- 
ence to  prevent  the  rechartcrittg  of  the  Bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted State? ;  to  sustain  the  administration  in  its  removal 
of  the  public  deposits;  and  to  oppose- *he  passage  of  a 
land  bill  containing  the  principles  adopted  in  the  act 
upon  that  subject  passed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  governor  be  requested  to  trans- 
mit copies  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  to 
each  of  our  Senators  and  Representatives." 

It  is  thus  seen  that  four  Senators  have  declared  by 
their  votes  that  the  President,  in  the  executive  proceed- 
ings in  relation  to  the  revenue,  had  been  guilty  of  the  im- 
peachable  offence  of  "  assuming  upon  himself  authority 
and  power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws, 
but  in  derogation  of  both,"  whilst  the  legislatures  of  their 
respective  states  had  deliberately  approved  those  very 
proceedings,  as  consistent  with  the  constitution  and  de- 
manded by  the  public  good.  If  these  four  votes  had  been 
in  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  the  legisla- 


T 


PROTEST.  223 

tures,  as  above  expressed,  there  would  have  been  but 
twenty-four  out  of  forty-six  for  censuring  the  President, 
and  the  unprecedented  record  of  his  conviction  could 
not  have  been  placed  upon  the  journals  of  the  Senate. 

In  thus  referring  to  the  resolutions  and  instructions  of 
the  state  legislatures,  I  disclaim  and  repudiate  all  autho- 
rity or  design  to  interfere  with  the  responsibility  due  from 
members  of  the  Senate  to  their  own  consciences,  their 
constituents,  and  their  country.  The  facts  now  stated, 
belong  to  the  history  of  these  proceedings,  and  are  im- 
portant to  the  just  development  of  the  principles  and  in- 
terests involved  in  them,  as  well  as  to  the  proper  vindica- 
tion of  the  executive  department ;  and  with  that  view, 
and  that  only,  are  they  here  made  the  topic  of  remark. 

The  dangerous  tendency  of  the  doctrine  which  denies 
to  the  President  the  power  of  supervising,  directing,  and 
removing  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  in  like  manner 
with  other  executive  officers,  would  soon  be  manifest  in 
practice,  were  the  doctrine  to  be  established.  The  Pre- 
sident is  the  direct  representative  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, but  the  secretaries  are  not.  If  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  be  independent  of  the  President  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws,  then  is  there  no  direct  responsibility  to 
the  people  in  the  important  branch  of  this  government, 
to  which  is  committed  the  care  of  the  national  finances. 
And  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
or  any  other  corporation,  body  of  men,  or  individuals,  if 
a  secretary  shall  be  found  to  accord  with  them  in  opinion, 
or  can  be  induced  in  practice  to  promote  their  views,  to 
control  through  him  the  whole  action  of  government  (so 
far  as  it  is  exercised  by  his  department,)  in  defiance  of 
the  chief  magistrate  elected  by  the  people  and  responsi- 
ble to  them. 

But  the  evil  tendency  of  the  particular  doctrine  advert- 
ed to,  though  superficially  serious,  would  be  as  nothing 
in  comparison  with  the  pernicious  consequences  which 
would  inevitably  flow  from  the  high  approbation  and  al- 
lowance by  the  people,  and  the  practice  by  the  Senate,  of 
the  unconstitutional  power  of  arraigning  and  censuring 
the  official  conduct  of  the  executive,  in  the  manner  re- 
cently pursued.  Such  proceedings  are  eminently  calcu- 


224  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

lated  to  unsettle  the  foundations  of  the  government ;  to 
disturb  the  harmonious  action  of  the  different  depart- 
ments ;  and  to  break  down  the  checks  and  balances  by 
which  the  wisdom  of  its  framers  sought  to  insure  its  sta- 
bility and  usefulness. 

The  honest  differences  of  opinion  which  occasionally 
exist  between  the  Senate  and  President,  in  regard  to  mat- 
ters in  which  both  are  obliged  to  participate,  are  suffi- 
ciently embarrassing.  But  if  the  course  recently  adopted 
by  the  Senate  shall  hereafter  be  frequently  pursued,  it  is 
not  only  obvious  that  the  harmony  of  the  relations  be- 
tween the  President  and  the  Senate  will  be  destroyed,  but 
that  other  and  graver  effects  will  ultimately  ensue.  If  the 
censures  of  the  Senate  be  submitted  to  by  the  President, 
the  confidence  of  the  people  in  his  ability  and  virtue,  and 
the  character  and  usefulness  of  his  administration,  will 
soon  be  at  an  end,  and  the  real  power  of  the  government 
will  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  body,  holding  their  offices 
for  long  terms,  not  elected  by  the  people,  and  not  to  them 
directly  responsible.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  illegal 
censures  of  the  Senate  should  be  resisted  by  the  Presi- 
dent, collisions  and  angry  controversies  might  ensue,  dis- 
creditable in  their  progress,  and  in  the  end  compelling 
the  people  to  adopt  the  conclusion,  either  that  their  chief 
magistrate  was  unworthy  of  their  respect,  or  that  the  Se- 
nate was  chargeable  with  calumny  and  injustice.  Either 
of  these  results  would  impair  public  confidence  in  the 
perfection  of  the  system,  and  lead  to  serious  alterations 
of  its  frame-work,  or  to  the  practical  abandonment  of 
some  of  its  provisions. 

The  influence  of  such  proceedings  in- the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  government,  and  more  especially  on  the 
states,  could  not  fail  to  be  extensively  pernicious.  When 
the  judges  in  the  last  resort  of  official  misconduct,  them- 
selves overleaped  the  bounds  of  their  authority,  as  pre- 
scribed by  the  constitution,  what  general  disregard  of  its 
provisions  might  not  their  example  be  expected  to  pro- 
duce ?  And  who  does  not  perceive  that  such  contempt 
of  the  federal  constitution,  by  one  of  its  most  important 
departments,  would  hold  out  the  strongest  temptations  to 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  state  sovereignties,  when- 
." 


^.3!  PROTEST.  .     225 

ever  they  shall  suppose  their  just  rights  to  have  been  in- 
vaded ?  Thus  all  the  independent  departments  of  the 
government,  and  the  states  which  compose  our  confede- 
rated union,  instead  of  attending  to  their  appropriate  du- 
ties, and  leaving  those  who  may  offend,  to  be  reclaimed 
or  punished  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the  constitu- 
tion, would  fall  to  mutual  crimination. and  recrimination, 
and  give  to  the  people  confusion  and  anarchy,  instead 
of  order  and  law  ;  until  at  length  some  form  of  aristo- 
cratic power  would  be  established  on  the  ruins  of  the 
constitution,  or  the  states  be  broken  into  separate  com- 
munities. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  charge,  or  to  insinuate,  that  the 
present  Senate  of  the  United  States  intended,  in  the  most 
distant  way,  to  encourage  such  a  result.  It  is  not  of  their 
motives  or  designs,  but  only  of  the  tendency  of  their  acts, 
that  it  is  my  duty  to  speak.  It  is,  if  possible,  to  make 
Senators  themselves  sensible  of  the  danger  which  lurks 
undu:  the  precedent  set  in  their  resolution ;  and  at  any 
rate  To  perform  my  duty,  as  the  responsible  head  of  one 
of  the  co-equal  departments  of  the  government,  that  I 
have  been  compelled  to  point  out  the  consequences  to 
which  the  discussion  and  passage  of  the  resolutions  may 
lead,  if  the  tendency  of  the  measure  be  not  checked  in 
its  inception.  It  is  due  to  the  high  trust  with  which  I 
have  been  charged ;  to  those  who  may  be  called  to  suc- 
ceed me  in  it ;  to  the  representatives  of  the  people,  whose 
constitutional  prerogative  has  been  unlawfully  assumed  ; 
to  the  people  and  to  the  states ;  and  to  the  constitution 
they  have  established ;  that  I  shall  not  permit  its  provi- 
sions to  be  broken  down  by  such  an  attack  on  the  execu- 
tive department,  without  at  least  some  effort"  to  preserve, 
protect,  and  defend  them." 

With  this  view,  and  for  the  reasons  which  have  been  sta- 
ted, I  do  hereby  SOLEMNLY  PROTEST  against  the  afore-men- 
tioned proceedings  of  the  Senate,  as  unauthorized  by  the 
constitution  ;  contrary  to  its  spirit  and  to  several  of  its 
express  provisions ;  subversive  of  that  distribution  of  the 
powers  of  government  which  it  has  ordained  and  esta- 
blished ;  destructive  of  the  checks  and  safeguards  by 
which  those  powers  were  intended,  on  the  one  hand  to 


226  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

be  controlled,  and  on  the  other  to  be  protected,  and  cal- 
culated by  their  immediate  and  collateral  effects,  by  their 
character  and  tendency,  to  concentrate  in  the  hands  of  a 
body  not  directly  amenable  to  the  people,  a  degree  of  in- 
fluence and  power  dangerous  to  their  liberties,  and  fatal 
to  the  constitution  of  their  choice. 

The  resolution  of  the  Senate  contains  an  imputation 
upon  my  private  as  well  as  upon  my  public  character  ; 
and  as  it  must  stand  forever  on  their  journals,  I  cannot 
close  this,  substitute  for  that  defence  which  I  have  not 
been  allowed  to  present  in  the  ordinary  form,  without  re- 
marking, that  I  have  lived  in  vain,  if  it  be  necessary  to 
enter  into  a  formal  vindication  of  my  character  and  pur- 
pose from  such  an  imputation.  In  vain  do  I  bear  upon 
my  person,  enduring  memorials  of  that  contest  in  which 
American  liberty  was  purchased — in  vain  have  I  since 
periled  property,  fame,  and  life,  in  defence  of  the  rights 
and  privileges  so  dearly  bought — in  vain  am  I  now,  with- 
out a  personal  aspiration,  or  the  hope  of  individual  <pdvan- 
tage,  encountering  responsibilities  and  dangers,  from 
which,  by  mere  inactivity  in  relation  to  a  single  point,  I 
might  have  been  exempt — if  any  serious  doubts  can  be 
entertained  as  to  the  purity  of  my  purpose  and  mo- 
tives. If  I  had  been  ambitious,  I  should  have  sought 
an  alliance  with  that  powerful  institution,  which  even 
now  aspires  to  no  divided  empire.  If  I  had  been  ve- 
nal, I  should  have  sold  myself  to  its  designs — had  I 
preferred  personal  comfort  and  official  ease  to  the  per- 
formance of  my  arduous  duty,  I  should  cease  to  molest 
it.  In  the  history  of  conquerors  and  usurpers,  never,  in 
the  fire  of  youth,  nor  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  could  I 
find  an  attraction  to  lure  me  from  the  path  of  duty  ;  and 
now,  I  shall  scarcely  find  an  inducement  to  commence 
their  career  of  ambition,  when  gray  hairs  and  a  decaying 
frame,  instead  of  inviting  to  toil  and  battle,  call  me  to 
the  contemplation  of  other  worlds,  where  conquerors 
cease  to  be  honored,  and  usurpers  expiate  their  crimes. 
The  only  ambition  I  can  feel,  is  to  acquit  myself  to  Him 
to  whom  I  must  soon  render  an  account  of  my  steward- 
ship, to  serve  my  fellow-men,  and  live  respected  and  ho- 
nored in  the  history  of  my  country.  No  :  the  ambition 


PROTEST.  227 

which  leads  me  on,  is  an  anxious  desire  and  a  fixed  de- 
termination to  return  to  the  people  unimpaired,  the  sacred 
trust  they  have  confided  to  my  charge — to  heal  the  wounds 
of  the  constitution  and  preserve  it  from  further  violation ; 
to  persuade  my  countrymen,  so  far  as  I  may,  that  it  is  not 
in  a  splendid  government,  supported  by  powerful  mono- 
polies and  aristocratical  establishments,  that  they  will  find 
happiness,  or  their  liberties  protection  ;  but  in  a  plain 
system,  void  of  pomp — protecting  all,  and  granting  favors 
to  none — dispensing  its  blessings  like  the  dews  of  Hea- 
ven, unseen  and  unfelt,  save  in  the  freshness  and  beauty 
they  contribute  to  produce.  It  is  such  a  government  that 
the  genius  of  our  people  requires — such  a  one  only  under 
which  our  states  may  remain  for  ages  to  come,  united, 
prosperous,  and  free.  If  the  Almighty  Being  who  has 
hitherto  sustained  and  protected  me,  will  but  vouchsafe 
to  make  my  feeble  powers  instrumental  to  such  a  result, 
I  shall  anticipate  with  pleasure  the  place  to  be  assigned 
me  in  the  history  of  my  country,  and  die  contented  with 
the  belief  that  I  have  contributed,  in  some  small  degree, 
to  increase  the  value  and  prolong  the  duration  of  Ameri- 
can liberty. 

To  the  end  that  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  may  not 
be  hereafter  drawn  into  precedent,  with  the  authority  of 
silent  acquiescence  on  the  part  of  the  executive  depart- 
ment, and  to  the  end,  also,  that  my  motives  and  views  in 
the  executive  proceedings  denounced  in  that  resolution, 
may  be  known  to  my  fellow-citizens,  to  the  world,  and 
to  all  posterity,  I  respectfully  request  that  this  Message 
and  Protest  may  be  entered  at  length  on  the  journal  of 
the  Senate. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


2*23  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

. 

VAN  BUREN'S    INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 

MARCH    4,    1837. 

FeUmo-Citizcns  : 

The  practice  of  all  my  predecessors  imposes  on  me  an 
obligation  I  cheerfully  fulfil,  to  accompany  the  first  and 
solemn  act  of  my  public  trust  with  an  avowal  of  the  prin- 
ciples that  will  guide  me  in  performing  it,  and  an  expres- 
sion of  my  feelings  on  assuming  a  charge  so  responsible 
and  vast.  In  imitating  their  example,  I  tread  in  the  foot- 
steps of  illustrious  men,  whose  superiors  it  is  our  happi- 
ness to  believe  are  not  found  on  the  executive  calendar 
of  any  country.  Among  them  we  recognize  the  earliest 
arid  firmest  pillars  of  the  republic;  those  by  whom  our 
national  independence  was  first  declared ;  him  who, 
above  all  others,  contributed  to  establish  it  on  the  field 
of  battle  ;  and  those  whose  expanded  intellect  and  patriot- 
ism constructed,  improved  and  perfected  the  inestimable 
institutions  under  which  we  live.  If  such  men,  in  the 
position  I  now  occupy,  felt  themselves  overwhelmed  by  a 
sense  of  gratitude  for  this,  the  highest  of  all  marks  of 
their  country's  confidence,  and  by  a  consciousness  of 
their  inability  adequately  to  discharge  the  duties  of  an 
office  so  difficult  and  exalted,  how  much  more  must  these 
considerations  aflect  one,  who  can  rely  on  no  such  claim 
for  favor  or  forbearance.  Unlike  all  who  have  preceded 
me,  the  revolution  that  gave  us  existence  as  one  people, 
was  achieved  at  the  period  of  my  birth ;  and  whilst  I 
contemplate,  with  grateful  reverence,  that  memorable, 
event,  I  feel  that  I  belong  to  a  later  age,  and  that  I  may 
not  expect  my  countrymen  to  weigh  my  actions  with  the 
same  kind  and  partial  hand. 

So  sensibly,  fellow-citizens,  do  these  circumstances 
press  themselves  upon  me,  that  I  should  not  dare  to  en- 
ter upon  my  path  of  duty,  did  I  not  look  for  the  gene- 
rous aid  of  those  who  will  be  associated  with  me  in  the 
various  and  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government ;  did 
I  not  repose  witli  unwavering  reliance  on  the  patriotism, 
the  intelligence  and  the  kindness  of  a  people  who  never 


VAN  EUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  229 

yet  deserted  a  public  servant  honestly  laboring  in  their 
cause  ;  and,  above  all,  did  I  not  permit  myself  humbly  to 
hope  for  the  sustaining  support  of  an  ever-watchful  and 
beneficent  Providence. 

To  the  confidence  and  consolation  derived  from  these 
sources,  it  would  be  ungrateful  not  to  add  those  which 
spring  from  our  present  fortunate  condition.  Though 
not  altogether  exempt  from  embarrassments  that  disturb 
our  tranquillity  at  home  and  threaten  it  abroad,  yet,  in  all 
the  attributes  of  a  great,  happy,  and  flourishing  people, 
we  stand  without  a  parallel  in  the  world.  Abroad,  we 
enjoy  the  respect,  and,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  the 
friendship  of  every  nation ;  at  home,  while  our  govern- 
ment quietly,  but  efficiently  performs  the  sole  legitimate 
end  of  political  institutions,  in  doing  the  greatest  good  to 
the  greatest  number,  we  present  an  aggregate  of  human 
prosperity  surely  not  elsewhere  to  be  found. 

How  imperious  then,  is  the  obligation  imposed  upon 
every  citizen,  in  his  own  sphere  of  action,  whether  limit- 
ed or  extended,  to  exert  himself  in  perpetuating  a  condi- 
tion of  things  so  singularly  happy.  All  the  lessons  of 
history  and  experience  must  be  lost  upon  us,  if  we  are 
content  to  trust  alone  to  the  peculiar  advantages  we  hap- 
pen to  possess.  Position  and  climate,  and  the  bounteous 
resources  that  nature  has  scattered  with  so  liberal  a 
hand — even  the  diffused  intelligence  and  elevated  cha- 
racter of  our  people — will  avail  us  nothing,  if  we  fail 
sacredly  to  uphold  those  political  institutions  that  were 
wisely  and  deliberately  formed,  with  reference  to  every 
circumstance  that  could  preserve,  or  might  endanger  the 
blessings  we  enjoy.  The  thoughtful  framers  of  our  con- 
stitution legislated  for  our  country  as  they  found  it.  Look- 
ing upon  it  with  the  eyes  of  statesmen  and  of  patriots, 
they  saw  all  the  sources  of  rapid  and  wonderful  prosperi- 
ty ;  but  they  saw,  also,  that  various  habits,  opinions,  and 
institutions,  peculiar  to  the  various  portions  of  so  vast  a 
region,  were  deeply  fixed.  Distinct  sovereignties  were 
in  actual  existence,  whose  cordial  union  was  essential  to 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  all.  Between  many  of  them 
there  was,  at  least  to  some  extent,  a  real  diversity  of  in- 
terests, liable  to  be  exaggerated  through  sinister  designs  ; 
20 


230  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN-. 

they  differed  in  size,  in  population,  in  wealth,  and  in  actuai 
and  prospective  resources  and  power ;  they  varied  in  the 
character  of  their  industry  and  staple  productions ;  and 
in  some  existed  domestic  institutions,  which,  unwisely 
disturbed,  might  endanger  the  harmony  of  the  whole. 
Most  carefully  were  all  these  circumstances  weighed,  and 
the  foundation  of  the  government  laid  upon  principles  of 
mutual  concession  and  equitable  compromise.  The  jea- 
lousies which  the  smaller  states  might  entertain  of  the 
power  of  the  rest,  were  allayed  by  a  rule  of  representation, 
confessedly  unequal  at  the  time,  and  designed  forever  to 
remain  so.  A  natural  fear  that  the  broad  scope  of  gene- 
ral legislation  might  bear  upon  and  unwisely  control  par- 
ticular interests,  was  counteracted  by-limits  strictly  drawn 
around  the  action  of  the  federal  authority ;  and  to  the 
people  and  the  states  was  left  unimpaired  their  sovereign 
power  over  the  innumerable  subjects  embraced  in  the 
internal  government  of  a  just  republic,  excepting  such 
only  as  necessarily  appertain  to  the  concerns  of  the  whole 
confederacy,  or  its  intercourse,  as  a  united  community, 
with  the  other  nations  of  the  world. 

This  provident  forecast  has  been  verified  by  time. 
Half  a  century,  teeming  with  extraordinary  events,  and 
elsewhere  producing  astonishing  results,  has  passed  along  ; 
but  on  our  institutions  it  has  left  no  injurious  mark.  From 
a  small  community,  we  have  risen  to  a  people  powerful 
in  numbers  and  in  strength ;  but  with  our  increase  has 
gone  hand  in  hand  the  progress  of  just  principle ;  the 
privileges,  civil  and  religious,  of  the  humblest  individual 
are  sacredly  protected  at  home ;  and  while  the  valor  and 
fortitude  of  our  people  have  removed  far  from  us  the 
slightest  apprehension  of  foreign  power,  they  have  not 
yet  induced  us,  in  a  single  instance,  to  forget  what  is 
right.  Our  commerce  has  been  extended  to  the  remotest 
nations ;  the  value,  and  even  nature  of  the  productions 
has  been  greatly  changed ;  a  wide  difference  has  arisen 
in  the  relative  wealth  and  resources  of  every  portion  of 
our  country  ;  yet  the  spirit  of  mutual  regard  and  of  faith- 
ful adherence  to  existing  compacts,  has  continued  to 
prevail  in  our  councils,  and  never  long  been  absent  from 
our  conduct.  We  have  learned  by  experience  a  fruitful 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  231 

lesson ;  that  an  implicit  and  undeviating  adherence  to 
the  principles  on  which  we  set  out  can  carry  us  prosper- 
ously onward  through  all  the  conflicts  of  circumstances, 
and  the  vicissitudes  inseparable  from  the  lapse  of  years. 

The  success  that  has  thus  attended  our  great  experi- 
ment, is,  in  itself,  sufficient  cause  for  gratitude,  on  ac- 
count of  the  happiness  it  has  actually  conferred,  and  the 
example  it  has  unanswerably  given.  But  to  me,  my  fel- 
low-citizens, looking  forward  to  the  far-distant  future, 
with  ardent  prayers  and  confiding  hopes,  this  retrospect 
presents  a  ground  for  still  deeper  delight.  It  impresses 
on  my  mind  a  firm  belief  that  the  perpetuity  of  our  in- 
stitutions depends  upon  themselves  ;  that,  if  we  maintain 
the  principles  on  which  they  were  established,  they  are 
destined  to  confer  their  benefits  on  countless  generations 
yet  to  come ;  and  that  America  will  present  to  every 
friend  of  mankind  the  cheering  proof,  that  a  popular 
government,  wisely  formed,  is  wanting  in  no  element  of 
endurance  or  strength.  Fifty  years  ago  its  rapid  failure 
was  predicted.  Latent  and  uncontrollable  causes  of  dis- 
solution were  supposed  to  exist,  even  by  the  wise  and 
good  ;  and  not  only  did  unfriendly  or  speculative  theorists 
anticipate  for  us  the  fate  of  past  republics,  but  the  fear  of 
many  an-  honest  patriot  overbalanced  his  sanguine  hopes. 
Look  back  on  these  forebodings,  not  hastily,  but  reluct- 
antly made,  and  see  how,  in  every  instance,  they  have 
completely  failed. 

An  imperfect  experience,  during  the  struggles  of  the 
revolution,  was  supposed  to  warrant  a  belief  that  the  peo- 
ple would  not  bear  the  taxation  requisite  to  the  discharge 
of  an  immense  public  debt  already  incurred,  and  to  de- 
fray the  necessary  expenses  of  government.  The  cost  of 
two  wars  has  been  paid,  not  only  without  a  murmur,  but 
with  unequalled  alacrity.  No  one  is  now  left  to  doubt 
that  every  burden  will  be  cheerfully  borne  that  may  be 
necessary  to  sustain  our  civil  institutions,  or  guard  our 
honor  or  our  welfare.  Indeed,  all  experience  has  shown 
that  the  willingness  of  the  people  to  contribute  to  these 
ends,  in  cases  of  emergency,  has  uniformily  outrun  the 
confidence  of  their  representatives. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  new  government,  when  all 


232  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

felt  the  imposing  influence,  as  they  recognized  the  une- 
qualled services  of  the  first  President,  it  was  a  common 
sentiment,  that  the  great  weight  of  his  character  could 
alone  bind  the  discordant  materials  of  our  government 
together,  and  save  us  from  the  violence  of  contending 
factions.  Since  his  death,  nearly  forty  years  are  gone. 
Party  exasperation  has  been  often  carried  to  its  highest 
point ;  the  virtue  and  fortitude  of  the  people  have  some- 
times been  greatly  tried  ;  yet  our  system,  purified  and  en- 
hanced in  value  by  all  it  has  encountered,  still  preserves 
its  spirit  of  free  and  fearless  discussion,  blended  with 
unimpaired  fraternal  feeling. 

The  capacity  of  the  people  for  self-government,  and 
their  willingness,  from  a  high  sense  of  duty,  and  without 
those  exhibitions  of  coercive  power  so  generally  employed 
in  other  countries,  to  submit  to  all  needful  restraints  and 
exactions  of  the  municipal  law,  have  also  been  favorably 
exemplified  in  the  history  oT  the  American  states.  Oc- 
casionally, it  is  true,  the  ardor  of  public  sentiment,  out- 
running the  regular  process  of  the  judicial  tribunals,  or 
seeking  to  reach  cases  not  denounced  as  criminal  by  the 
existing  law,  has  displayed  itself  in  a  manner  calculated 
to  give  pain  to  the  friends  of  free  government,  and  to  en- 
courage the  hopes  of  those  who  wish  for  its  overthrow. 
These  occurrences,  however,  have  been  less  frequent  in 
our  country  than  any  other  of  equal  population  on  the 
globe;  and  with  the  diffusion  of  intelligence,  it  may  well 
be  hoped  that  they  will  constantly  diminish  in  frequency 
and  violence.  The  generous  patriotism  and  sound  com- 
mon sense  of  the  great  mass  of  our  fellow-citizens,  will 
assuredly,  in  time,  produce  this  result ;  for  as  every  as- 
sumption of  illegal  power  not  only  wounds  the  majesty  of 
the  law,  but  furnishes  a  pretext  for  abridging  the  liberties 
of  the  people,  the  latter  have  the  most  direct  and  perma- 
nent interest  in  preserving  the  great  landmarks  of  social 
order,  and  maintaining,  on  all  occasions,  the  inviolability 
of  those  constitutional  and  legal  provisions  which  they 
themselves  have  made. 

In  a  supposed  unfitness  of  our  institutions  for  those 
hostile  emergencies  which  no  country  can  always  avoid, 
their  friends  found  a  fruitful  source  of  apprehension, 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  233 

their  enemies  of  hope.  While  they  foresaw  less  prompt- 
ness  of  action  than  in  governments  differently  formed, 
they  overlooked  the  far  more  important  considerations, 
that  with  us  war  could  never  be  the  result  of  individual 
or  irresponsible  will,  but  must  be  a  measure  of  redress  for 
injuries  sustained,  voluntarily  resorted  to  by  those  who 
were  to  bear  the  necessary  sacrifice,  who  would  conse- 
quently feel  an  individual  interest  in  the  contest,  and 
u  hose  energy  would  be  commensurate  with  the  difficul- 
ties to  be  encountered.  Actual  events  have  proved  their 
error  :  the  last  war,  far  from  impairing,  gave  new  confi- 
dence to  our  government ;  and  amid  recent  apprehensions 
of  a  similar  conflict,  we  saw  that  the  energies  of  our 
country  would  not  be  wanting  in  ample  season  to  vindi- 
cate its  rights.  We  may  not  possess,  as  we  should  not 
desire  to  possess,  the  extended  and  ever  ready  military 
organization  of  other  nations  ;  we  may  occasionally  suf- 
fer in  the  outset  for  the  want  of  it,  but,  among  ourselves, 
all  doubt  upon  this  great  point  has  ceased,  while  a  salu- 
tary experience  will  prevent  a  contrary  opinion  from  in- 
viting aggression  from  abroad. 

Certain  danger  was  foretold  from  the  extension  of  our 
territory,  the  multiplication  of  states,  and  the  increase  of 
population.  Our  system  was  supposed  to  be  adapted  on- 
ly to  boundaries  comparatively  narrow.  These  have  been 
widened  beyond  conjecture ;  the  members  of  our  confed- 
eracy are  already  doubled  ;  and  the  numbers  of  our  peo- 
ple are  incredibly  augmented.  The  alleged  causes  of 
danger  have  long  surpassed  anticipation,  but  none  of  the 
consequences  have  followed.  The  power  and  influence 
of  the  republic  have  risen  to  a  height  obvious  to  all  man- 
kind ;  respect  for  its  authority  was  not  more  apparent  at 
its  ancient  than  it  is  at  its  present  limits ;  new  and  inex- 
haustible sources  of  general  prosperity  have  been  opened  ; 
the  effects  of  distance  have  been  averted  by  the  inventive 
genius  of  our  people,  developed  and  fostered  by  the  spirit 
of  our  institutions  ;  and  the  large  variety  and  amount  of 
interests,  productions,  and  pursuits,  have  strengthened  the 
chain  of  mutual  dependence,  and  formed  a  circle  of 
mutual  benefit9,  too  apparent  ever  to  be  overlooked. 

In  justly  balancing  the  powers  of  the  federal  and  state 
20* 


234  THE    TKUE    AMERICAN. 

authorities,  difficulties  nearly  insurmountable  arose  at  tLe 
outset,  and  subsequent  collisions  were  deemed  inevitable 
Amid  these,  it  was  scarcely  believed  possible  that  a 
scheme  of  government  so  complex  in  construction,  could 
remain  uninjured.  From  time  to  time,  embarrassments 
have  certainly  occurred ;  but  how  just  is  the  confidence 
of  future  safety  imparted  by  the  knowledge  that  each  in 
succession  has  been  happily  removed.  Overlooking  par- 
tial and  temporary  evils  as  inseparable  from  the  practical 
operation  of  all  human  institutions,  and  looking  only  to 
the  general  result,  every  patriot  has  reason  to  be  satisfied. 
While  the  federal  government  has  successfully  performed 
its  appropriate  functions  in  relation  to  foreign  affairs,  and 
concerns  evidently  national,  that  of  every  state  has  re- 
markably improved  in  protecting  and  developing  local 
interests  and  individual  welfare ;  and  if  the  vibrations  of 
authority  have  occasionally  tended  too  much  towards  one 
or  other,  it  is  unquestionably  certain  that  the  ultimate 
operation  of  the  entire  system  has  been  to  strengthen  all 
the  existing  institutions,  and  to  elevate  our  whole  country 
in  prosperity  and  renown. 

The  last,  perhaps  the  greatest,  of  the  prominent 
sources  of  discord  and  disaster  supposed  to  lurk  in  our 
political  condition,  was  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery. 
Our  forefathers  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  delicacy 
of  this  subject,  and  they  treated  it  with  a  forbearance  so 
evidently  wise,  that,  in  spite  of  every  sinister  foreboding, 
it  never,  until  the  present  period,  disturbed  the  tranquil- 
lity of  our  common  country.  Such  a  result  is  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  justice  and  patriotism  of  their  course;  it 
is  evidence  not  to  be  mistaken,  that  nn  adherence  to  if 
can  prevent  all  embarrassment  from  this,  as  well  as  even 
other  anticipated  cause  of  difficulty  or  danger.  Have 
not  recent  events  made  it  obvious  to  the  slightest  reflec- 
tion, that  the  least  deviation  from  this  spirit  of  forbearance 
is  injurious  to  every  interest,  that  of  humanity  included  ? 

Amidst  the  violence  of  excited  passions,  this  generous 
and  fraternal  feeling  has  been  sometimes  disregarded  ;  and 
standing  as  I  now  do  before  my  countrymen,  in  this  high 
place  of  honor  and  trust,  I  cannot  refrain  from  anxiously 
invoking  my  fellow-citizens  never  to  be  deaf  to  its  die- 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  235 

tales.  Perceiving,  before  my  election,  the  deep  interest 
this  subject  was  beginning  to  excite,  I  believed  it  a  so- 
lemn duty  fully  to  make  known  my  sentiments  in  regard 
to  it ;  and  now,  when  every  motive  for  misrepresentation 
has  passed  away,  I  trust  that  they  will  be  candidly  weigh- 
ed and  understood.  At  least  they  will  be  my  standard  of 
conduct  in  the  path  before  me.  I  then  declared  that,  if 
the  desire  of  those  of  my  countrymen  who  were  favorable 
to  my  election  was  gratified,  "  I  must  go  into'  the  presi- 
dential chair  the  inflexible  and  uncompromising  opponent 
of  every  attempt,  on  the  part  of  Congress,  to  abolish  sla- 
very in  the  District  of  Columbia,  against  the  wishes  of 
the  slaveholding  states ;  and  also  with  a  determination 
equally  decided  to  resist  the  slightest  interference  with  it 
in  the  states  where  it  exists."  I  submitted  also  to  my  fel- 
low-citizens, with  fulness  and  frankness,  the  reasons  which 
led  me  to  this  determination.  The  result  authorizes  me 
to  believe  that  they  have  been  approved,  and  are  confided 
in  by  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in- 
cluding those  whom  they  most  immediately  affect.  It 
now  only  remains  to  add,  that  no  bill  conflicting  with 
these  views  can  ever  receive  my  constitutional  sanction. 
These  opinions  have  been  adopted  in  the  firm  belief  that 
they  are  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  that  actuated  the 
venerated  fathers  of  the  republic,  and  that  succeeding  ex- 
perience has  proved  them  to  be  humane,  patriotic,  expedi- 
ent, honorable  and  just.  If  the  agitation  of  this  subject 
was  intended  to  reach  the  stability  of  our  institutions, 
enough  has  occurred  to  show  that  it  has  signally  failed  ; 
and  that  in  this,  as  in  every  other  instance,  the  apprehen- 
sions of  the  timid  and  the  hopes  of  the  wicked  for  the 
destruction  of  our  government,  are  again  destined  to  be 
disappointed.  Here  and  there,  indeed,  scenes  of  danger- 
ous excitement  have  occurred ;  terrifying  instances  of 
local  violence  have  been  witnessed ;  and  a  reckless  disre- 
gard of  the  consequences  of  their  conduct  has  exposed 
individuals  to  popular  indignation  ;  but  neither  masses  of 
the  people  nor  sections  of  the  country  have  swerved  from 
their  devotion  to  the  bond  of  union,  and  the  principles  it 
has  made  sacred.  It  will  be  ever  thus.  Such  attempts 
at  agitation  may  periodically  return,  but  with  each  the 


236  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

object  will  be  better  understood.  That  predominating 
affection  for  our  political  system  which  prevails  through- 
out our  territorial  limits;  that  calm  and  enlightened  judg- 
ment which  ultimately  governs  our  people  as  one  vast 
body,  will  always  be  at  hand  to  resist  and  control  every 
effort,  foreign  or  domestic,  which  aims  or  would  lead  to 
overthrow  our  institutions. 

What  can  be  more  gratifying  than  such  a  retrospect  as 
this !  We  look  back  on  obstacles  avoided  and  dangers 
overcome  ;  on  expectations  more  than  realized,  and  pros- 
perity perfectly  secured.  To  the  hopes  of  the  hostile, 
the  fears  of  the  timid,  and  the  doubts  of  the  anxious, 
actual  experience  has  given  the  conclusive  reply.  We 
have  seen  time  gradually  dispel  every  unfavorable  forebo- 
ding, and  our  constitution  surmount  every  adverse  cir- 
cumstance, dreaded  at  the  outset  as  beyond  control.  Pre- 
sent excitement  will,  at  all  times,  magnify  present  dangers; 
but  true  philosophy  must  teach  us  that  none  more  threa- 
tening than  the  past  can  remain  to  be  overcome ;  and  we 
ought,  for  we  have  just  reason,  to  entertain  an  abiding 
confidence  in  the  stability  of  our  institutions,  and  an 
entire  conviction  that  if  administered  in  the  true  form, 
character,  and  spirit  in  which  they  were  established,  they 
are  abundantly  adequate  to  preserve  to  us  and  our  chil- 
dren the  rich  blessings  already  derived  from  them ;  to 
make  our  beloved  land,  for  a  thousand  generations,  that 
chosen  spot  where  happiness  springs  from  a  perfect  equal- 
ity of  political  rights. 

For  myself,  therefore,  I  desire  to  declare,  that  the  prin- 
ciple that  will  govern  me  in  the  high  duty  to  which  my 
country  c(-dls  me,  is  a  strict  adherence  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  constitution,  as  it  was  designed  by  those  who 
framed  it.  Looking  back  to  it  as  a  sacred  instrument, 
carefully  and  not  easily  framed ;  remembering  that  it  was 
throughout  a  work  of  concession  and  compromise,  view- 
ing it  as  limited  to  national  objects ;  regarding  it  as  leav- 
ing to  the  people  and  the  states  all  power  not  explicitly 
parted  with,  I  shall  endeavor  to  preserve,  protect  and  de- 
fend it,  by  anxiously  referring  to  its  provisions  for  direc- 
tion in  every  action.  To  matters  of  domestic  concern- 
ment which  it  has  entrusted  to  the  federal  government, 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  237 

and  to  such  as  relate  to  our  intercourse  with  foreign  na- 
tions, I  shall  zealously  devote  myself;  beyond  those  lim- 
its I  shall  never  pass. 

To  enter,  on  this  occasion,  into  a  further  or  more 
minute  exposition  of  my  views  on  the  various  questions 
of  domestic  policy,  would  be  as  obtrusive  as  it  is  proba- 
bly unexpected.  Before  the  suffrages  of  my  countrymen 
were  conferred  upon  me,  I  submitted  to  them,  with  great 
precision,  my  opinions  on  all  the  most  prominent  of  these 
subjects.  Those  opinions  I  shall  endeavor  to  carry  out 
with  the  utmost  ability. 

Our  course  of  foreign  policy  has  been  so  uniform  and 
intelligible,  as  to  constitute  a  rule  of  executive  conduct 
which  leaves  little  to  my  discretion,  unless,  indeed,  I  were 
willing  to  run  counter  to  the  lights  of  experience,  and 
the  known  opinions  of  my  constituents.  We  sedulously 
cultivate  the  friendship  of  all  nations,  as  the  condition 
most  compatible  with  our  welfare,  and  the  principles  of 
our  government.  We  decline  alliances,  as  adverse  to  our 
peace.  We  desire  commercial  relations  on  equal  terms, 
being  ever  willing  to  give  a  fair  equivalent  for  advantages 
received.  We  endeavor  to  conduct  our  intercourse  with 
openness  and  sincerity  ;  promptly  avowing  our  objects, 
and  seeking  to  establish  that  mutual  frankness  which  is 
as  beneficial  in  the  dealings  of  nations  as  of  men.  We 
have  no  disposition,  and  we  disclaim  all  right  to  meddle 
in  disputes,  whether  internal  or  foreign,  that  may  molest 
other  countries  ;  regarding  them  in  their  actual  state,  as 
social  communities,  and  preserving  a  strict  neutrality  in 
all  their  controversies.  Well  knowing  the  tried  valor  of 
our  people,  and  our  exhaustless  resources,  we  neither  an- 
ticipate nor  fear  any  designed  aggression ;  and  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  our  own  just  conduct,  we  feel  a  security 
that  we  shall  never  be  called  upon  to  exert  our  determina- 
tion, never  to  permit  an  invasion  of  our  rights,  without 
punishment  or  redress. 

In  approaching,  then,  in  the  presence  of  my  assembled 
countrymen,  to  make  the  solemn  promise  that  yet  remains, 
and  to  pledge  myself  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the 
office  I  am  about  to  fill,  I  bring  with  me  a  settled  pur- 
pose to  maintain  the  institutions  of  my  country,  which,  I 
trust,  will  atone  for  the  errors  I  commit. 


238  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

In  receiving  from  the  people  the  sacred  trust  twice  con- 
fided to  my  illustrious  predecessor,  and  which  he  has  dis- 
charged so  faithfully  and  so  well,  I  know  that  I  cannot 
expect  to  perform  the  arduous  task  with  equal  ability  and 
success.  But,  united  as  I  have  been  in  his  counsels,  a 
daily  witness  of  his  exclusive  and  unsurpassed  devotion 
to  his  country's  welfare,  agreeing  with  him  in  sentiments 
which  his  countrymen  have  warmly  supported,  and  per- 
mitted to  partake  largely  of  his  confidence,  I  may  hope 
that  somewhat  of  the  same  cheering  approbation  will  be 
found  to  attend  upon  my  path.  For  him,  I  but  express, 
with  my  own,  the  wishes  of  all,  that  he  may  yet  long  live 
to  enjoy  the  brilliant  evening  of  his  well-spent  life  ,  and 
for  myself,  conscious  of  but  one  desire,  faithfully  to  serve 
my  country,  I  throw  myself,  without  fear,  on  its  justice 
and  kindness.  Beyond  that,  I  only  look  to  the  gracious 
protection  of  that  Divine  Being  whose  strengthening  sup- 
port I  humbly  solicit,  and  whom  I  fervently  pray  to  look 
down  upon  us  all.  May  it  be  among  the  dispensations  of 
his  providence  to  bless  our  beloved  country  with  honors 
and  with  length  of  days;  may  her  ways  be  ways  of  plea- 
santness, and  all  her  paths  be  peace. 


SPECIAL    SESSION   MESSAGE, 

SEPTEMBER    4,    1837. 

Fellotc-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

The  act  of  the  23d  of  June,  1836,  regulating  the  de- 
posits of  the  public  money,  and  directing  the  employ- 
ment of  state,  district,  and  territorial  banks  for  that 
purpose,  made  it  the  duty  of  the  secretary  of  the  trea- 
sury to  discontinue  the  use  of  such  of  them  as  should  at 
any  time  refuse  to  redeem  their  notes  in  specie,  and  to 
substitute  other  banks,  provided  a  sufficient  number  could 
be  obtained  to  receive  the  public  deposits  upon  the  terms 
and  conditions  therein  prescribed.  The  general  and  al- 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.         230 

most  simultaneous  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the 
banks  in  May  last,  rendered  the  performance  of  this  duty 
imperative,  in  respect  to  those  which  had  been  selected 
under  the  act ;  and  made  it,  at  the  same  time,  impracti- 
cable to  employ  the  requisite  number  of  others,  upon  the 
prescribed  conditions.  The  specific  regulations  esta- 
blished by  Congress  for  the  deposit  and  safe  keeping  of 
the  public  moneys,  having  thus  unexpectedly  become  im- 
perative, I  felt  it  to  be  rny  duty  to  afford  you  an  early  op- 
portunity for  the  exercise  of  your  supervisory  powers 
over  the  subject. 

I  was  also  led  to  apprehend  that  the  suspension  of  spe- 
cie payments,  increasing  the  embarrassments  before  ex- 
isting in  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  country,  would  so 
far  diminish  the  public  revenue,  that  the  accruing  receipts 
into  the  treasury  would  not,  with  the  reserved  five  mil- 
lions, be  sufficient  to  defray  the  unavoidable  expenses  of 
the  government,  untH  the  usual  period  for  the  meeting  of 
Congress ;  whilst  the  authority  to  call  upon  the  states  for 
a  portion  of  the  sums  deposited  with  them,  was  too  re- 
stricted to  enable  the  department  to  realize  a  sufficient 
amount  from  that  source.  These  apprehensions  have 
been  justified  by  subsequent  results,  which  render  it  cer- 
tain that  this  deficiency  will  occur,  if  additional  means 
be  not  provided  by  Congress. 

The  difficulties  experienced  by  the  mercantile  interest 
in  meeting  their  engagements,  induced  them  to  apply  to 
me,  previous  to  the  actual  suspension  of  specie  payments, 
for  indulgence  upon  their  bonds  for  duties,  and  all  the 
relief  authorized  by  law  was  promptly  and  cheerfully 
granted.  The  dependence  of  the  treasury  upon  the  avails 
of  these  bonds,  to  enable  it  to  make  the  deposits  with  the  • 
states  required  by  law,  led  me  in  the  outset  to  limit  this 
indulgence  to  the  1st  of  September,  but  it  has  since  been 
extended  to  the  1st  of  October,  that  the  matter  might  be 
submitted  to  your  further  direction. 

Questions  were  also  expected  to  arise,  in  the  recess,  in 
respect  to  the  October  instalment  of  those  deposits,  re- 
quiring the  interposition  of  Congress. 

A  provision  of  another  act,  passed  about  the  same 
time,  and  intended  to  secure  a  faithful  compliance  with 


240  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  obligation  of  the  United  States,  to  satisfy  all  demands 
upon  them  in  specie  or  its  equivalent,  prohibiting  the  of- 
fer of  any  bank  note,  not  convertible  on  the  spot  into 
gold  or  silver  at  the  will  of  the  holder ;  and  the  ability 
of  the  government,  with  millions  on  deposit,  to  meet  its 
engagements  in  the  manner  thus  required  by  law,  was 
rendered  very  doubtful  by  the  event  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred. 

Sensible  that  adequate  provisions  for  these  unexpected 
emergencies  could  only  be  made  by  Congress ;  convinced 
that  some  of  these  would  be  indispensably  necessary  to 
the  public  service,  before  the  regular  period  of  your  meet- 
ing ;  and  desirous  also  to  enable  you  to  exercise,  at  the 
earliest  moment,  your  full  constitutional  powers  for  the 
relief  of  the  country,  I  could  not  with  propriety  avoid 
subjecting  you  to  the  inconvenience  of  assembling  at  as 
early  a  day  as  the  state  of  the  popular  representation 
would  permit.  I  am  sure  that  I  have  done  but  justice  to 
your  feelings,  in  believing  that  this  inconvenience  will  be 
cheerfully  encountered,  in  the  hopes  of  rendering  your 
meeting  conducive  to  the  good  of  the  country. 

During  the  earlier  stages  of  the  revulsion  through 
which  we  have  just  passed,  much  acrimonious  discussion 
arose,  and  great  diversity  of  opinion  existed,  as  to  its 
real  causes.  This  was  not  surprising.  The  operations 
«>f  credit  are  so  diversified,  and  the  influence  which  affect 
them  so  numerous,  and  often  so  subtle,  that  even  impar- 
tial and  well-informed  persons  are  seldom  found  to  agree 
in  respect  to  them.  To  inherent  difficulties  were  also  add- 
ed other  tendencies,  which  were  by  no  means  favorable 
to  the  discovery  of  truth.  It  was  hardly  to  be  expected, 
that  those  who  disapproved  the  policy  of  the  government 
in  relation  to  the  currency,  would,  in  the  excited  state 
of  public  feeling  produced  by  that  occasion,  fail  to  attri- 
bute to  that  policy  any  extensive  embarrassment  in  the 
monetary  affairs  of  the  country.  The  matter  thus  be- 
came connected  with  the  passions  and  conflicts  of  party  ; 
opinions  were  more  or  less  affected  by  political  conside^ 
rations ;  and  differences  were  prolonged  which  might 
otherwise  have  been  determined  by  an  appeal  to  facts,  by 
the  exercise  of  reason,  or  by  mutual  concession.  It  is, 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.       241 

however,  a  cheering  reflection,  that  circumstances  of  this 
nature  cannot  prevent  a  community  so  intelligent  as  ours 
from  ultimately  arriving  at  correct  conclusions.  Encou- 
raged by  the  firm  belief  of  this  truth,  I  proceed  to  state 
my  views,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  remedies  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  propose, 
and  of  the  reasons  by  which  I  have  been  led  to  recom- 
mend them. 

The  history  of  trade  in  the  United  States,  for  the  last 
three  or  four  years,  affords  the  most  convincing  evidence 
that  our  present  condition  is  chiefly  to  be  attributed  to 
over-action  in  all  the  departments  of  business  ;  an  over- 
action  deriving,  perhaps,  its  first  impulses  from  antecedent 
causes,  but  stimulated  to  its  destructive  consequences  by 
excessive  issues  of  bank  paper,  and  by  other  facilities  for 
the  acquisition  and  enlargement  of  credit.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year  1834,  the  banking  capital  of  the 
United  States,  including  that  of  the  national  bank,  then 
existing,  amounted  to  about  two  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars ;  the  bank  notes  then  in  circulation  to  about  ninety- 
five  millions ;  and  the  loans  and  discounts  of  the  banks  to 
three  hundred  and  twenty-four  millions.  Between  that 
time  and  the  first  of  January,  1836,  being  the  latest  pe- 
riod to  which  accurate  accounts  have  been  received,  our 
banking  capital  was  increased  to  more  than  two  hundred 
and  fifty-one  millions  ;  our  paper  circulation  to  more  than 
one  hundred  and  forty  millions,  and  the  loans  and  dis- 
counts to  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty-seven  millions. 
To  this  vast  increase  are  to  be  added  the  many  millions 
of  credit,  acquired  by  means  of  foreign  loans,  contract- 
ed by  the  states  and  state  institutions,  and  by  the  lavish 
accommodations  extended  by  foreign  dealers  to  our  mer- 
chants. 

The  consequences  of  this  redundancy  of  credit,  and 
the  spirit  of  reckless  speculation  engendered  by  it,  were 
a  foreign  debt  contracted  by  our  citizens,  estimated,  in 
March  last,  at  more  than  thirty  millions  of  dollars  ;  the 
extension  to  dealers  in  the  interior  of  our  country  of  cre- 
dits for  supplies,  greatly  beyond  the  wants  of  our  people  ; 
the  investment  of  thirty-nine  and  a  half  millions  of  dol- 
'ars  in  unproductive  public  lands,  in  the  years  1835  and 
21 


242  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

1836,  whilst  in  the  preceding  year  the  sales  amounted  to 
only  four  and  a  half  millions  ;  the  creation  of  debts,  to 
an  almost  countless  amount,  for  real  estate  in  existing  or 
anticipated  cities  or  villages,  equally  unproductive,  and 
at  prices  not  seen  to  have  been  greatly  disproportionate 
to  their  real  value  ;  the  expenditure  of  immense  sums  in 
improvements,  which  in  many  cases  have  been  found  to 
be  ruinously  improvident ;  the  diversion  to  other  pursuits 
of  much  of  the  labor  that  should  have  been  applied  to 
agriculture,  thereby  contributing  to  the  expenditure  of 
large  sums  in  the  importation  of  grain  from  Europe — an 
expenditure  which  amounted,  in  1834,  to  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  was  in  the  first  two  quar- 
ters of  the  present  year,  increased  to  more  than  two  mil- 
lions of  dollars  ;  and  finally,  without  enumerating  other 
injurious  results,  the  rapid  growth  among  all  classes,  and 
especially  in  our  great  commercial  towns,  of  luxurious 
habits,  founded  too  often  on  merely  fancied  wealth,  and 
detrimental  alike  to  the  industry,  the  resources,  and  the 
morals  of  our  people. 

It  was  so  impossible  that  such  a  state  of  things  could 
long  continue,  that  the  prospect  of  revulsion  was  present 
to  the  minds  of  considerate  men  before  it  actually  came. 
None,  however,  had  correctly  anticipated  its  severity.  A 
concurrence  of  circumstances  inadequate  of  themselves 
to  produce  such  wide-spread  and  calamitous  embarrass- 
ments, tended  so  greatly  to  aggravate  them  that  they  can- 
not be  overlooked  in  considering  their  history.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned  as  most  prominent,  the  great  loss 
of  capital  sustained  in  our  commercial  emporium  in  the 
fire  of  December,  1835 — a  loss,  the  effects  of  which  were 
underrated  at  the  time,  because  postponed  for  a  season 
by  the  great  facilities  of  credit  then  existing ;  the  dis- 
turbing effects  in  our  commercial  cities,  of  the  transfers 
of  the  public  moneys,  required  by  the  deposit  law  of 
June,  183(5 ;  and  the  measures  adopted  by  the  foreign 
creditors  of  our  merchants,  to  reduce  their  debts,  and  to 
withdraw  from  the  United  States  a  large  portion  of  their 
specie. 

However  unwilling  any  of  our  citizens  may  heretofore 
hare  been  to  assign  to  these  causes  the  chief  instrumen- 


.    *N&fr- 

TAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        243 

tality  in  producing  the  present  state  of  things,  the  deve- 
lopments subsequently  made,  and  the  actual  condition  of 
other  commercial  countries,  must,  as  it  seems  to  me,  dis- 
pel all  remaining  doubts  upon  the  subject.  It  has  since 
appeared  that  evils  similar  to  those  suffered  by  ourselves, 
have  been  experienced  in  Great  Britain,  on  the  continent, 
and  indeed  throughout  the  commercial  world ;  and  that 
in  other  countries  as  well  as  our  own,  they  have  been 
uniformly  preceded  by  an  undue  enlargement  of  the  boun- 
daries of  trade,  prompted,  as  with  us,  by  an  unprecedent- 
ed expansion  of  the  system  of  credit.  A  reference  to  the 
amount  of  banking  capital,  and  the  issues  of  paper  cre- 
dits put  in  circulation  in  Great  Britain,  by  banks  and 
in  other  ways, 'during  the  years  1834,  1835,  and  1836, 
will  show  an  augmentation  of  the  paper  currency  there, 
as  much  disproportioned  to  the  real  wants  of  trade  as  in 
the  United  States.  With  this  redundancy  of  the  paper 
currency,  there  arose  in  that  country  also  a  spirit  of  ad- 
venturous speculation  embracing  the  whole  range  of  hu- 
man enterprise.  Aid  was  profusely  given  to  projected 
improvements ;  large  investments  were  made  in  foreign 
stocks  and  loans ;  credits  for  goods  were  granted  with 
unbounded  liberality  to  merchants  in  foreign  countries  ; 
and  all  means  of  acquiring  and  employing  credit  were 
put  in  active  operation,  and  extended  in  their  effects  to 
every  department  of  business,  and  to  every  part  of  the 
globe.  The  reaction  was  proportioned  in  its  violence  to 
the  extraordinary  character  of  events  which  preceded  it. 
The  commercial  community  of  Great  Britain  were  sub- 
jected to  the  greatest  difficulties,  and  their  debtors  in  this 
country  were  not  only  suddenly  deprived  of  accustomed 
and  expected  credits,  but  called  upon  for  payments,  which, 
in  the  actual  posture  of  things  here,  could  only  be  made 
through  a  general  pressure  and  at  the  most  ruinous  sa- 
crifices. 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  would  seem  impossible  for  in- 
quirers after  truth  to  resist  the  conviction,  that  the  causes 
of  the  revulsion  in  both  countries  have  been  substantially 
the  same.  Two  nations,  the  most  commercial  in  the 
world,  enjoying  but  recently  the  highest  degree  of  appa- 
rent prosperity,  and  maintaining  with  each  other  the  clo- 


244  THE    TRUE   AMERICAN. 

sest  relations,  are  suddenly  in  a  time  of  profound  peace, 
and  without  any  great  national  disaster,  arrested  in  their 
career,  and  plunged  into  a  state  of  embarrassment  and 
distress.  In  both  countries  we  have  witnessed  the  same 
redundancy  of  paper  money,  and  other  facilities  of  cre- 
dit ;  the  same  spirit  of  speculation  ;  the  same  partial  suc- 
cess ;  the  same  difficulties  and  reverses ;  and,  at  length, 
nearly  the  same  overwhelming  catastrophe.  The  most 
material  difference  between  the  results  in  the  two  coun- 
tries has  only  been,  that  with  us  there  has  also  occurred 
an  extensive  derangement  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  fede- 
ral and  state  governments,  occasioned  by  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments  by  the  banks. 

The  history  of  these  causes  and  effects  in  Great  Bri- 
tain and  the  United  States,  is  substantially  the  history  of 
the  revulsion  in  all  other  commercial  countries. 

The  present  and  visible  effect  of  these  circumstances 
on  the  operation  of  the  government,  and  on  the  industry 
of  the  people,  point  out  the  objects  which  call  for  your 
immediate  attention. 

They  are — to  regulate  by  law  the  safe-keeping,  trans- 
fer, and  disbursement  of  the  public  moneys ;  to  designate 
the  funds  to  be  received  and  paid  by  the  government ;  to 
enable  the  treasury  to  meet  promptly  every  demand  upon 
it ;  to  prescribe  the  terms  of  indulgence,  and  the  mode 
of  settlement  to  be  adopted,  as  well  in  collecting  from 
individuals  the  revenue  that  has  accrued,  as  in  withdraw- 
ing it  from  former  depositories,  and  to  devise  and  adopt 
such  further  measures,  within  the  constitutional  compe- 
tency of  Congress,  as  will  be  best  calculated  to  revive 
the  enterprise  and  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the 
country. 

For  the  deposit,  transfer,  and  disbursement  of  the  re- 
venue, national  and  state  banks  have  always,  with  tempo 
rary  and  limited  exceptions,  been  heretofore  employed  ,- 
but,  although  advocates  of  each  system  are  still  to  be 
found,  it  is  apparent  that  the  events  of  the  last  few 
months  have  greatly  augmented  the  desire,  long  existing 
among  the  people  of  the  United  States,  to  separate  the 
fiscal  operations  of  the  government  from  those  of  indivi- 
duals or  corporations. 


VAN  BUUEN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        245 

Again  to  create  a  national  bank,  as  a  fiscal  agent,  would 
be  to  disregard  the  popular  will,  twice  solemnly  and  une- 
quivocally expressed.  On  no  question  of  domestic  poli- 
cy is  there  stronger  evidence  that  the  sentiments  of  a 
large  majority  are  deliberately  fixed ;  and  I  cannot  con- 
cur with  those  who  think  they  see  in  recent  events,  a 
proof  that  these  sentiments  are,  or  a  reason  that  they 
should  be,  changed. 

Events,  similar  in  their  origin  and  character,  have 
heretofore  frequently  occurred  without  producing  any 
such  change;  and  the  lessons  of  experience  must  be  for- 
gotten, if  we  suppose  that  the  present  overthrow  of  credit 
would  have  been  prevented  by  the  existence  of  a  national 
bank.  Proneness  to  excessive  issues  has  ever  been  the  vice 
of  the  banking  system ;  a  vice  as  prominent  in  national 
as  in  state  institutions.  This  propensity  is  as  subservient 
to  the  advancement  of  private  interests  in  the  one  as  in 
the  other;  and  those  who  direct  them  both,  being  princi- 
pally guided  by  the  same  views,  and  influenced  by  the 
same  motives,  will  be  equally  ready  to  stimulate  extrava- 
gance of  enterprise  by  improvidence  of  credit.  How 
strikingly  is  this  conclusion  sustained  by  experience. 
The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  the  vast  powers  con- 
ferred on  it  by  Congress,  did  not  or  could  not  prevent 
former  and  similar  embarrassments ;  nor  has  the  still 
greater  strength  it  has  been  said  to  possess  under  its  pre- 
sent charter,  enabled  it,  in  the  existing  emergency,  to 
check  other  institutions,  or  even  to  save  itself.  In  Great 
Britain,  where  it  has  been  seen  the  same  causes  have 
been  attended  with  the  same  effects,  a  national  bank, 
possessing  powers  far  greater  than  are  asked  for  by  the 
.warmest  advocates  of  such  an  institution  here,  has  also 
proved  unable  to  prevent  an  undue  expansion  of  credit, 
and  the  evils  that  flow  from  it.  Nor  can  I  find  any  tena- 
ble ground  for  the  re-establishment  of  a  national  bank,  in 
the  derangement  alleged  at  present  to  exist  in  the  domestic 
^exchanges  of  the  country,  or  in  the  facilities  it  may  be 
capable  of  affording  them.  Although  advantages  of  this 
kind  were  anticipated  when  the  first  Bank  of  the  United 
States  was  created,  they  were  regarded  as  an  incidental 
accommodation ;  not  one  which  the  federal  government 
21* 

'•*•' 


246  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

was  bound  or  could  be  called  upon  to  furnish.  This  ac- 
commodation is  now,  indeed,  after  the  lapse  of  not  many 
years,  demanded  from  it  as  among  its  first  duties ;  and 
an  omission  to  aid  and  regulate  commercial  exchange,  is 
treated  as  a  ground  of  loud  and  serious  complaint.  Such 
results  only  serve  to  exemplify  the  constant  desire  among 
some  of  our  citizens  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  go- 
vernment, and  to  extend  its  control  to  subjects  with  which 
it  should  not  interfere.  They  can  never  justify  the  crea- 
tion of  an  institution  to  promote  such  objects.  On  the 
contrary,  they  justly  excite  among  the  community  a  more 
diligent  inquiry  into  the  character  of  those  operations  of 
trade,  towards  which  it  is  desired  to  extend  such  peculiar 
favors. 

The  various  transactions  that  bear  the  name  of  domes- 
tic exchanges,  differ  essentially  in  their  nature,  opera- 
tions, and  utility.  One  class  of  them  consists  of  bills  of 
exchange,  drawn  for  the  purpose  of  transferring  actual 
capital  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  or  to  an- 
ticipate the  proceeds  of  property  actually  transmitted. 
Bills  of  this  description  are  highly  useful  in  the  move- 
ments of  trade,  and  well  deserve  all  the  encouragement 
that  can  rightfully  be  given  to  them.  Another  class  is 
made  up  of  bills  of  exchange,  not  drawn  to  transfer  ac- 
tual capital,  nor  on  the  credit  of  property  transmitted, 
hut  to  create  fictitious  capital,  partaking  at  once  of  the 
character  of  notes  discounted  in  bank,  and  of  banknotes 
in  circulation,  and  swelling  the  amount  of  paper  credits 
in  a  most  objectionable  manner.  These  bills  have  formed, 
for  the  last  few  years,  a  large  proportion  of  what  are 
termed  the  domestic  exchanges  of  the  country,  serving  as 
the  means  of  usurious  profit,  and  constituting  the  most 
unsafe  and  precarious  paper  in  circulation.  This  species 
•»f  traffic,  instead  of  being  upheld,  ought  to  be  discoun- 
ter a  need  by  the  government  and  the  people. 

In  transferring  its  funds  from  place  to  place,  the  go- 
vernment is  on  the  same  footing  with  the  private  citizen, 
•  i ay  resort  to  the  same  legal  means.  It  may  do  so 
t;;rou^ii  the  medium  of  bills  drawn  by  itself,  or  purchase 
uthcrs  ;  aud  in  these  operations  it  may,  in  a  manner 
uc;Jjubte<i!y  constitutional  and  legitimate,  facilitate  and 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.       247 

assist  exchanges  of  individuals  founded  on  real  transac- 
tions of  trade.  The  extent  to  which  this  may  be  done, 
and  the  best  means  of  effecting  it,  are  entitled  to  the  full- 
est consideration.  This  has  been  bestowed  by  the  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury,  and  his  views  will  be  submitted  to 
you  in  his  report. 

But  it  was  not  designed  by  the  constitution  that  the 
government  should  assume  the  management  of  domestic 
or  foreign  exchange.  It  is  indeed  authorized  to  regulate 
by  law  the  commerce  between  the  states,  and  to  provide 
a  general  standard  of  value,  or  medium  of  exchange,  in 
gold  and  silver  ;  but  it  is  not  its  province  to  aid  individu- 
als in  the  transfer  of  their  funds,  otherwise  than  through 
the  facilities  afforded  by  the  post-office  department.  As 
justly  might  it  be  called  on  to  provide  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  their  merchandise.  These  are  operations  of 
trade.  They  ought  to  be  conducted  by  those  who  are 
interested  in  them  in  the  same  manner  that  the  incidental 
difficulties  of  other  pursuits  are  encountered  by  other 
classes  of  citizens.  Such  aid  has  not  been  deemed  neces- 
sary in  other  countries.  Throughout  Europe,  the  domes- 
tic as  well  as  the  foreign  exchanges  are  carried  on  by 
private  houses,  often,  if  not  generally,  without  the  assist- 
ance of  banks.  Yet  they  extend  throughout  distinct 
sovereignties,  and  far  exceed  in  amount  the  real  ex- 
changes of  the  United  States.  There  is  no  reason  why  our 
own  may  not  be  conducted  in  the  same  manner  with  equal 
cheapness  and  safety.  Certainly  this  might  be  accom- 
plished if  it  were  favored  by  those  most  deeply  interested ; 
and  few  can  doubt  that  their  own  interest,  as  well  as  the 
general  welfare  of  the  country,  would  be  promoted  by  leav- 
ing such  a  subject  in  the  hands  of  those  to  whom  it  pro- 
perly belongs.  A  system  founded  on  private  interest,  en- 
terprise and  competition,  without  the  aid  of  legislative 
grants  or  regulations  by  law,  would  rapidly  prosper ;  it 
would  be  free  from  the  influence  of  political  agitation, 
and  extend  the  same  exemption  to  trade  itself;  and  it 
would  put  an  end  to  those  complaints  of  neglect,  partiali- 
ty, injustice,  and  oppression,  which  are  the  unavoidable 
results  of  interference  by  the  government  in  the  proper 
concerns  of  individuals.  All  former  attempts  on  the 


S48  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

part  of  the  government  to  carry  its  legislation  in  this  re- 
spect further  than  was  designed  by  the  constitution,  have, 
in  the  end,  proved  injurious,  and  have  served  only  to 
convince  the  great  body  of  the  people,  more  and  more,  of 
the  certain  danger  of  blending  private  interests  with 
the  operations  of  public  business  ;  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  a  repetition  of  them  now  would  be  more 
successful. 

It  cannot  be  concealed  that  there  exists  in  our  commu- 
nity opinions  and  feelings  on  this  subject  in  opposition  to 
each  other.  A  large  portion  of  them,  combining  great 
intelligence,  activity,  and  influence,  and  no  doubt  sincere 
in  their  belief  that  the  operations  of  trade  ought  to  be 
assisted  by  such  a  connection  ;  they  regard  a  national 
bank  as  necessary  for  this  purpose,  and  they  are  disincli- 
ned to  every  measure  that  does  not  tend,  sooner  or  later, 
to  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  majority  of  the  people  are  believed  to  be  irrecon- 
cilably opposed  to  that  measure  :  they  consider  such  a 
concentration  of  power  dangerous  to  their  liberties  ;  and 
many  of  them  regard  it  as  a  violation  of  the  constitution. 
This  collision  of  opinion  has  doubtless  caused  much  of 
the  embarrassment  to  which  the  commercial  transactions 
of  the  country  have  lately  been  exposed.  Banking  has 
become  a  political  topic  of  the  highest  interest,  and  trade 
has  suffered  in  the  conflict  of  parties.  A  speedy  termi- 
nation of  this  state  of  things,  however  desirable,  ie 
scarcely  to  be  expected.  We  -have  seen  for  nearly  half  a 
century  that  those  who  advocate  a  national  bank,  by 
whatever  motive  they  may  be  influenced,  constitute  a 
portion  of  our  community  too  numerous  to  allow  us  to 
hope  for  an  abandonment  of  their  favorite  plan.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  must  indeed  form  an  erroneous  estimate 
of  the  intelligence  and  temper  of  the  American  people, 
who  suppose  that  they  have  continued  on  slight  or  insuf- 
ficient grounds  their  persevering  opposition  'to  such  an 
institution  ;  or  that  they  can  be  induced  by  pecuniary 
pressure,  or  by  any  other  combination  of  circumstances 
to  surrender  principles  they  have  so  long  and  so  inflexi- 
bly maintained. 

My  own  views  of  the  subject  are  unchanged.     They 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        249 

have  been  repeatedly  and  unreservedly  announced  to  my 
fellow-citizens,  who,  with  full  knowledge  of  them,  con- 
ferred upon  me  the  two  highest  offices  of  the  government. 
On  the  last  of  these  occasions,  I  felt  it  due  to  the  people 
to  apprise  them  distinctly  that,  in  the  event  of  my  elec- 
tion, I  would  not  be  able  to  co-operate  in  the  re-establish- 
ment of  a  national  bank.  To  these  sentiments  I  have 
now  only  to  add  the  expression  of  an  increased  convic- 
tion, that  the  re-establishment  of  such  a  bank,  in  any 
form,  whilst  it  would  not  accomplish  the  beneficial  pur- 
poses promised  by  its  advocates,  would  impair  the  right- 
ful supremacy  of  the  popular  will ;  injure  the  character 
and  diminish  the  influence  of  our  political  system ;  and 
bring  once  more  into  existence  a  concentrated  moneyed 
power,  hostile  to  the  spirit,  and  threatening  the  perma- 
nency of  our  republican  institutions. 

Local  banks  have  been  employed  for  the  deposit  and 
distribution  of  the  revenue,  at  all  times  partially,  and  on 
three  different  occasions  exclusively  ;  first,  anterior  to  the 
establishment  of  the  first  bank  of  the  United  States ;  se- 
condly, in  the  interval  between  the  termination  of  that 
institution  and  the  charter  of  its  successor  ;  and  thirdly, 
during  the  limited  period  which  has  now  so  abruptly 
closed.  The  connection  thus  repeatedly  attempted,  proved 
unsatisfactory  on  each  successive  occasion,  notwithstand- 
ing the  various  measures  which  are  adopted  to  facilitate 
or  insure  its  success.  On  the  last  occasion,  in  the  year 
1833,  the  employment  of  the  state  banks  was  guarded 
especially  in  every  way  which  experience  and  caution 
could  suggest.  Personal  security  was  required  for  the 
safe-keeping  and  prompt  payment  of  the  moneys  to  be 
received,  and  full  returns  of  their  condition  were  from 
time  to  time  to  be  made  by  the  depositaries.  In  the  first 
stages,  the  measure  was  eminently  successful,  notwith- 
standing the  violent  opposition  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  unceasing  efforts  made  to  overthrow  it. 
The  selected  banks  performed  with  fidelity  and  without 
embarrassment  to  themselves  or  to  the  community  their 
engagements  to  the  government,  and  the  system  promised; 
to  be  permanently  useful.  But  when  it  became  necessa- 
ry, under  the  act  of  June,  1836,  to  withdraw  from  them 


550  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  public  money  for  the  purpose  of  placing  it  in  addi- 
tional institutions,  or  of  transferring  it  to  the  states,  they 
found  it  in  many  cases  inconvenient  to  comply  with  tho 
demands  of  the  treasury,  and  numerous  and  pressing  in- 
vitations were  made  for  indulgence  or  relief.  As  the  in- 
stalments under  the  deposit  law  became  payable,  their 
own  embarrassments,  and  the  necessity  under  which  they 
lay  of  curtailing  their  discounts  and  calling  in  their  debts, 
increased  the  general  distress,  and  contributed,  with 
other  causes,  to  hasten  the  revulsion  in  which  at  length 
they,  in  common  with  other  banks,  were  fatally  involved. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  becomes  our  solemn 
duty  to  inquire  whether  there  are  not,  in  any  connection 
between  the  government  and  the  banks  of  issue,  evils  of 
greater  magnitude,  inherent  in  its  very  nature,  and  against 
which  no  precautions  can  effectually  guard. 

Unforeseen  in  the  organization  of  the  government,  and 
forced  on  the  treasury  by  early  necessities,  the  practice 
of  employing  banks  was,  in  truth,  from  the  beginning, 
more  a  measure  of  emergency  than  of  sound  policy. 
When  we  started  into  existence  as  a  nation,  in  addition 
to  the  burdens  of  the  new  government,  we  assumed  all 
the  large  but  honorable  load  of  debt  which  was  the  price 
of  our  liberty ;  but  we  hesitated  to  weigh  down  the  in- 
fant industry  of  the  country  by  resorting  to  adequate  tax- 
ation for  the  necessary  revenue.  The  facilities  of  banks, 
in  return  for  the  privileges  they  acquired,  were  promptly 
offered,  and  perhaps  too  readily  received  by  an  embar-  . 
rassed  treasury.  During  the  long  continuance  of  a  na- 
tional debt,  and  the  intervening  difficulties  of  a  foreign 
war,  the  connection  was  continued  from  motives  of  con- 
venience ;  but  these  causes  have  long  since  passed  away. 
We  have  no  emergencies  that  make  banks  necessary  to 
aid  the  wants  of  the  treasury ;  we  have  no  load  of  na- 
tional debt  to  provide  for,  and  we  have  on  actual  deposit 
a  large  surplus.  No  public  interest,  therefore,  now  re- 
quires the  renewal  of  a  connection  that  circumstances 
have  dissolved.  The  complete  organization  of  our  go- 
vernment, the  abundance  of  our  resources,  the  general 
harmony  which  prevails  between  the  different  states  and 
with  foreign  powers,  all  enable  us  now  to  select  the  sys- 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        251 

tern  most  consistent  with  the  constitution,  and  most  con- 
ducive to  the  public  welfare.  Should  we,  then,  connect 
the  treasury  for  the  fourth  time  with  the  local  banks,  it 
can  only  be  under  a  conviction"  that  past  failures  have 
arisen  from  accidental,  not  inherent  defects. 

A  danger,  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  be  avoided,  in 
such  an  arrangement,  is  made  strikingly  evident  in  the 
very  event  by  which  it  has  now  been  defeated.  A  sud- 
den aot  of  the  banks  intrusted  with  the  funds  of  the  peo- 
ple, deprives  the  treasury,  without  fault  or  agency  of  the 
government,  of  the  ability  to  pay  its  creditors  in  the  cur- 
rency they  have  bylaw  a  right  to  demand.  This  circum- 
stance no  fluctuation  of  commerce  could  have  produced, 
if  the  public  revenue  had  been  collected  in  the  legal  cur- 
rency, and  kept  in  that  form  by  the  officers  of  the  trea- 
sury. The  citizen  whose  money  was  in  the  bank  re- 
ceives it  back,  since  the  suspension,  at  a  sacrifice  in  its 
amount ;  while  he  who  kept  it  in  the  legal  currency  of 
the  country,  and  in  his  own  possession,  pursues  without 
loss  the  current  of  his  business.  The  government,  placed 
in  the  situation  of  the  former,  is  involved  in  embarrass- 
ments it  could  not  have  suffered  had  it  pursued  the  course 
of  the  latter.  These  embarrassments  are,  moreover,  aug- 
mented by  those  salutary  and  just  laws  which  forbid  it  to 
use  a  depreciated  currency,  and,  by  so  doing,  take  from 
the  government  the  ability  which  individuals  have  of  ac- 
commodating their  transactions  to  such  a  catastrophe. 

A  system  which  can,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  when 
there  is  a  large  revenue  laid  by,  thus  suddenly  prevent 
the  application  and  the  use  of  the  money  of  the  people, 
in  the  manner  and  for  the  objects  they  have  directed,  can- 
not be  wise ;  but  who  can  think,  without  painful  reflec- 
tion, that  under  it  the  same  unforeseen  events  might  have 
befallen  us  in  the  midst  of  a  war,  and  taken  from  us,  at 
the  moment  when  most  wanted,  the  use  of  those  very 
means  which  were  treasured  up  to  promote  the  national 
welfare  and  guard  our  national  rights  ?  To  such  embar- 
rassments and  to  such  dangers  will  this  government  be 
always  exposed,  whilst  it  takes  the  moneys  raised  for,  and 
necessary  to,  the  public  service,  out  of  the  hands  of  its 
own  officers,  and  converts  them  into  a  mere  right  of  ac- 


252  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

lion  against  corporations  intrusted  with  the  possession 
of  them.  Nor  can  such  results  be  effectually  guarded 
ngainst  in  such  a  system,  without  investing  the  executive 
with  a  control  over  the  banks  themselves,  whether  state 
or  national,  that  might  with  reason  be  objected  to.  Ours 
is  probably  the  only  government  in  the  world  that  is  lia- 
ble, in  the  management  of  its  fiscal  concerns,  to  occur- 
rences like  these.  But  this  imminent  risk  is  not  the  only 
danger  attendant  on  the  surrender  of  the  public  money 
to  the  custody  and  control  of  local  corporations.  Though 
the  object  is  to  aid  the  treasury,  its  effect  may  be  to  in- 
troduce into  the  operations  of  the  government,  influences 
the  most  subtle,  founded  on  interests  the  most  selfish. 

The  use  by  the  banks,  for  their  own  benefit,  of  the 
money  deposited  with  them,  has  received  the  sanction  of 
the  government  from  the  commencement  of  this  connec- 
tion. The  money  received  from  the  people,  instead  of 
being  kept  till  it  is  needed  for  their  use,  is,  in  consequence 
of  this  authority,  a  fund,  on  which  discounts  are  made 
for  the  profit  of  those  who  happen  to  be  owners  of  stock 
in  the  banks  selected  as  depositories.  The  supposed  and 
often  exaggerated  advantages  of  such  a  boon  will  always 
cause  it  to  be  sought  for  with  avidity.  I  will  not  stop  to 
consider  on  whom  the  patronage  incident  to  it  is  to  be 
conferred  ;  whether  the  selection  and  control  to  be  trust- 
ed to  Congress  or  to  the  executive,  either  will  be  subject- 
ed to  appeals  made  in  every  form  which  the  sagacity  of 
interest  can  suggest.  The  banks,  under  such  a  system, 
are  stimulated  to  make  the  most  of  their  fortunate  acqui- 
sition ;  loans  and  circulation  are  rashly  augmented,  and 
when  the  public  exigencies  require  a  return,  it  is  attended 
with  embarrassments  not  provided  for,  nor  foreseen.  The 
banks  that  thought  themselves  most  fortunate  when  the 
public  funds  were  received,  find  themselves  most  embar- 
rassed when  the  season  of  payment  suddenly  arrives. 

Unfortunately,  too,  the  evils  of  the  system  are  not  limit- 
ed to  the  banks.  It  stimulates  a  general  rashness  of 
enterprise,  and  aggravates  the  fluctuations  of  commerce 
and  the  currency.  This  result  was  strikingly  exhibited 
during  the  operations  of  the  late  deposit  system,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  purchases  of  public  lands.  The  order  which 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        233 

ultimately  directed  the  payment  of  gold  and  silver  in  such 
purchases,  greatly  checked,  but  could  not  altogether  pre- 
vent the  evil.  Specie  was  indeed  more  difficult  to  be  pro- 
cured than  the  notes  which  the  banks  could  themselves 
create  at  pleasure ;  but  still  being  obtained  from  them  as 
a  loan,  and  returned  as  a  deposit,  which  they  were  again 
at  liberty  to  use,  it  only  passed  round  the  circle  with  di- 
minished speed.  This  operation  could  not  have  been 
performed,  had  the  funds  of  the  government  gone  into  the 
treasury,  to  be  regularly  disbursed,  and  not  into  the  banks, 
to  be  loaned  out  for  their  own  profit,  while  they  were 
permitted  to  substitute  for  it  a  credit  in  account. 

In  expressing  these  sentiments,  I  desire  not  to  under- 
Talue  the  benefits  of  a  salutary  credit  to  any  branch  of 
enterprise.  The  credit  bestowed  on  probity  and  industry 
is  the  just  reward  of  merit,  and  an  honorable  incentive  to 
further  acquisition.  None  oppose  it  who  love  their  coun- 
try and  understand  its  welfare.  But  when  it  is  unduly 
encouraged — when  it  is  made  to  inflame  the  public  mind 
with  the  temptations  of  sudden  and  unsubstantial  wealth 
— when  it  turns  industry  into  paths  that  lead  sooner  or 
later  to  disappointment  and  distress — it  becomes  liable  to 
censure,  and  needs  correction.  Far  from  helping  probity 
and  industry,  the  ruin  to  which  it  leads  fall  most  heavily 
on  the  great  laboring  classes,  who  are  thrown  suddenly 
out  of  employment,  and  by  the  failure  of  magnificent 
schemes,  never  intended  to  enrich  them,  are  deprived  in 
a  moment  of  their  only  resource.  Abuses  of  credit,  and 
excesses  in  speculation  will  happen  in  despite  of  the  most 
salutary  laws ;  no  government  perhaps  can  altogether  pre- 
vent them ;  but  surely  every  government  can  refrain  from 
contributing  the  stimulus  that  calls  them  into  life. 

Since,  therefore,  experience  has  shown,  that  to  lend  the 
public  money  to  the  local  banks,  is  hazardous  to  the 
operations  of  the  government,  at  least  of  doubtful  benefit 
to  the  institutions  themselves,  and  productive  of  disas- 
trous derangement  in  the  business  and  currency  of  the 
country,  is  it  the  part  of  wisdom  again  to  renew  the  con- 
nection 1 

It  is  true  that  such  an  agency  is  in  many  respects  con- 
venient to  the  treasury,  but  it  is  not  indispensable.     A 
22 


2S4 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


limitation  of  the  expenses  of  the  government  to  its  actu- 
al wants,  and  of  the  revenue  to  those  expenses,  with  con- 
venient means  for  its  prompt  application  to  the  purposes 
for  which  it  was  raised,  are  the  objects  which  we  should 
seek  to  accomplish.  The  collection,  safe-keeping,  trans- 
fer and  disbursements  of  the  public  money  can,  it  is  be- 
lieved, be  well  managed  by  officers  of  the  government 
Its  collection,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  its  disbursements 
also,  have  indeed  been  hitherto  conducted  solely  by  them  , 
neither  national  or  state  banks,  when  employed,  being 
required  to  do  more  than  keep  it  safely  while  in  their  cus- 
tody, and  transfer  and  pay  it  in  such  portions  and  at  such 
time  as  the  treasury  shall  direct. 

Such  banks  are  not  more  able  than  the  government  to 
secure  the  money  in  their  possession  against  accident, 
violence,  or  fraud.  The  assertion  that  they  are  so,  must 
assume  that  a  vault  in  a  bank  is  stronger  than  a  vault  in 
the  treasury  ;  and  that  directors,  cashiers,  and  clerks,  not 
selected  by  the  government,  nor  under  its  control,  are 
more  worthy  of  confidence  than  officers  selected  from  the 
people  and  responsible  to  the  government ;  officers  bound 
by  official  oaths  and  bonds  for  a  faithful  performance  of 
their  duties,  and  constantly  subject  to  the  supervision  of 
Congress. 

The  difficulties  of  transfer,  and  the  aid  heretofore 
rendered  by  banks,  have  been  less  than  is  usually  sup- 
posed. The  actual  accounts  show  that  by  far  the  larger 
portion  of  payments  is  made  within  short  or  convenient 
distances  from  the  places  of  collection  ;  and  the  whole 
number  of  warrants  issued  at  the  treasury  in  the  year 
1834,  a  year,  the  results  of  which  will,  it  is  believed, 
afford  a  safe  test  for  the  future,  fell  short  of  five  thousand, 
on  an  average  of  less  than  one  daily  for  each  state  ;  in  the 
city  of  New  York  they  did  not  average  more  than  two  a 
day,  and  at  the  city  of  Washington  only  four. 

The  difficulties  heretofore  existing,  are,  moreover,  daily 
lessened  by  an  increase  in  the  cheapness  and  facility  of 
communication  ;  and  it  may  be  asserted  with  confidence, 
that  the  necessary  transfers,  as  well  as  the  safe-keeping 
and  disbursements  of  the  public  moneys,  can  be  with 
ialV-iy  and  convenience  accomplished  through  the  agen- 


TAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.          256 

eies  of  treasury  officers.  This  opinion  has  been,  in  some 
degree,  confirmed  by  actual  experience  since  the  discon- 
tinuance of  banks  as  fiscal  agents,  in  May  last:  a  period 
which,  from  the  embarrassments  in  commercial  inter- 
course, presented  obstacles  as  great  as  any  that  may  be 
hereinafter  apprehended. 

The  manner  of  keeping  the  public  money  since  that 
period,  is  fully  stated  in  the  report  of  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury.  That  officer  also  suggests  the  propriety 
of  assigning,  by  law,  certain  additional  duties  of  existing 
establishments  and  officers,  which,  with  the  modifications 
and  safeguards  referred  to  by  him,  will,  he  thinks,  ena- 
ble the  department  to  continue  to  perform  this  branch  of 
the  public  service,  without  any  material  addition  either  to 
their  number  or  to  the  present  expense.  The  extent  of 
the  business  to  be  transacted  has  already  been  stated  ; 
and  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  money  with  which  the 
officers  employed  would  be  intrusted  at  any  one  time,  it 
appears  that,  assuming  a  balance  of  five  millions  to  be  at 
all  times  kept  in  the  treasury,  and  the  whole  of  it  left  in 
the  hands  of  the  collectors  and  receivers,  the  proportion 
of  each  would  not  exceed  an  average  of  thirty  thousand 
dollars;  but  that  deducting  one  million  for  the  use  of 
the  mint,  and  assuming  the  remaining  four  millions  to 
be  in  the  hands  of  one  half  of  the  present  number  of 
officers — a  supposition  deemed  more  likely  to  correspond 
with  the  fact — the  sum  in  the  hands  of  each  would  still 
be  less  than  the  amount  of  most  of  the  bonds  now  taken 
from  the  receivers  of  public  money.  Every  apprehen- 
sion, however,  on  the  subject,  either  in  respect  to  the  safe- 
ty of  the  money  or  the  faithful  discharge  of  these  fiscal 
transactions,  may,  it  appears  to  me,  be  effectually  remo- 
ved by  adding  to  the  present  means  of  the  treasury,  the 
establishment  by  law,  at  a  few  important  points,  of  offices 
for  the  deposit  and  disbursement  of  such  portions  of  pub- 
lic revenue  as  cannot,  with  obvious  safety  and  convenience, 
be  left  in  the  possession  of  the  collecting  officers  until 
paid  over  by  them  to  the  public  creditors.  Neither  the 
amounts  retained  in  their  hands,  nor  those  deposited  in 
the  offices,  would,  in  an  ordinary  condition  of  the  reve- 
nue, be  larger  in  most  cases  than  those  often  under  the 


256  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

control  of  disbursing  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  and 
might  be  made  entirely  safe,  by  requiring  such  securities, 
and  exercising  such  controlling  supervision,  as  Congress 
may  by  law  prescribe.  The  principal  officers  whose 
appointments  would  become  necessary  under  this  plan, 
taking  the  largest  number  suggested  by  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  would  not  exceed  ten ;  nor  the  additional 
expenses,  at  the  same  estimate,  sixty  thousand  dollars  a 
year. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  obligation  of  those  who 
are  intrusted  with  the  affairs  of  government,  to  conduct 
them  with  as  little  cost  to  the  nation  as  is  consistent  with 
the  public  interest;  and  it  is  for  Congress,  and  ultimately 
for  the  people,  to  decide  whether  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived from  keeping  our  fiscal  concerns  apart,  and  severing 
the  connection  which  has  hitherto  existed  between  the 
government  and  banks,  offer  sufficient  advantages  to  jus- 
tify the  necessary  expenses.  If  the  object  to  be  accom- 
plished is  deemed  important  to  the  future  welfare  of  the 
country,  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  believe  that  the  addi- 
tion to  the  public  expenditure  of  comparatively  so  small 
an  amount  as  will  be  necessary  to  effect  it,  will  be  object- 
ed to  by  the  people. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  report  of  the  postmaster-general, 
herewith  communicated,  that  the  fiscal  affairs  of  that  de- 
partment have  been  successfully  conducted  since  May 
last,  upon  the  principle  of  dealing  only  in  the  legal  cur- 
rency of  the  United  States,  and  that  it  needs  no  legisla- 
tion to  maintain  its  credit,  and  facilitate  the  management 
of  its  concerns;  the  existing  laws  being,  in  the  opinion 
of  that  officer,  ample  for  those  objects. 

Difficulties  will,  doubtless,  be  encountered  for  a  season, 
and  increased  services  required  from  the  public  function 
aries;  such  are  usually  incident  to  the  commencement 
of  every  system,  but  they  will  be  greatly  lessened  in  the 
progress  of  its  operations. 

The  power  and  influence  supposed  to  be  connected 
with  the  custody  and  disbursement  of  the  public  money, 
are  topics  on  which  the  public  mind  is  naturally,  and  with 
great  propriety,  peculiarly  sensitive.  Much  has  been  said 
of  them,  in  reference  to  the  proposed  separation  of  the 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        257 

government  from  the  banking  institutions  ;  and  surely  no 
one  can  object  to  any  appeals  or  animadversions  on  the 
Bubject,  which  are  consistent  with  facts,  and  evince  a 
proper  respect  for  the  intelligence  of  the  people.  If  a 
chief  magistrate  may  be  allowed  to  speak  for  himself,  on 
•uch  a  point,  I  can  truly  say,  that  to  me  nothing  would  be 
more  acceptable  than  the  withdrawal  from  the  executive, 
to  the  greatest  practicable  extent,  of  all  concern  in  the 
disbursement  of  the  public  revenue,  not  that  I  would 
shrink  from  any  responsibilty  cast  upon  me  by  the  duties 
of  my  office,  but  because  it  is  my  firm  belief,  that  its  capa- 
city for  usefulness  is  in  no  degree  promoted  by  the  pos- 
session of  any  patronage  not  actually  necessary  to  the 
performance  of  those  duties.  But  under  our  present  form 
of  government,  the  intervention  of  the  executive  officers 
in  the  custody  and  disbursements  of  the  public  money 
•eems  to  be  unavoidable ;  and  before  it  can  be  admitted 
that  the  influence  and  power  of  the  executive  would  be 
increased  by  dispensing  with  the  agency  of  banks,  the 
nature  of  that  intervention  in  such  an  agency  must  be 
carefully  regarded,  and  a  comparison  must  be  instituted 
between  its  extent  in  the  two  cases. 

The  revenue  can  only  be  collected  by  officers  appointed 
by  the  President,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  sen- 
ate. The  public  moneys  in  the  first  instance,  must  there- 
fore, in  all  cases,  pass  through  hands  selected  by  the  ex 
ecutive.  Other  officers  appointed  in  the  same  way,  or, 
as  in  some  cases,  by  the  President  alone,  must  also  be 
intrusted  with  them  when  drawn  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
bursements. It  is  thus  seen  that  even  when  banks  are  em- 
ployed, the  public  funds  must  twice  pass  through  the  hands 
of  the  executive  officers.  Besides  this,  the  head  of  the 
treasury  department,  who  also  holds  his  office  at  the  plea- 
sure of  the  President,  and  some  other  officers  of  the  same 
departments,  must  necessarily  be  invested  with  more  or 
less  power  in  the  selection,  continuance,  and  supervision 
of  the  banks  that  may  be  employed.  The  question  is 
then  narrowed  to  the  single  point,  whether  in  the  inter- 
mediate stage  between  the  collection  and  disbursement 
of  the  public  money,  the  agency  of  banks  is  necessary  to 
avoid  a  dangerous  extension  of  the  patronage  and  influ- 
22* 


258  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

enee  of  the  executive  ?  But  is  it  clear  that  the  connec- 
tion of  the  executive  with  powerful  moneyed  institutions, 
capable  of  ministering  to  the  interests  of  men  in  points 
where  they  are  most  accessible  to  corruption,  is  less  lia- 
ble to  abuse,  than  his  constitutional  agency  in  the  ap- 
pointment and  control  of  the  few  public  officers  required 
by  the  proposed  plan  ?  Will  the  public  money,  when  in 
their  hands  be  necessarily  exposed  to  any  improper  inter- 
ference on  the  part  of  the  executive  1  May  it  not  be 
hoped  that  a  prudent  fear  of  public  jealousy  and  disap- 
probation, in  a  matter  so  peculiarly  exposed  to  them,  will 
deter  him  from  any  such  interference,  even  if  higher  mo- 
tires  be  found  inoperative  ?  May  not  Congress  so  regu- 
late by  law  the  duty  of  those  officers,  and  subject  it  to 
such  supervision  and  publicity  as  to  prevent  the  possibility 
of  any  serious  abuse  on  the  part  of  the  executive  ?  And 
is  there  equal  room  for  such  supervision  and  publicity  in 
a  connection  with  banks,  acting  under  the  shield  of  cor- 
porate immunities,  and  conducted  by  persons  irresponsible 
to  the  government  and  to  the  people  ?  It  is  believed  that 
a  considerate  and  candid  investigation  of  these  questions 
\vill  result  in  the  conviction,  that  the  proposed  plan  is  far 
less  liable  to  objection,  on  the  score  of  executive  patron- 
age and  control,  than  any  bank  agency  that  has  been,  or 
can  be  devised. 

With  these  views,  I  leave  to  Congress  the  measures 
necessary  to  regulate,  in  the  present  emergency,  the  safe- 
keeping and  transfer  of  the  public  moneys.  In  the  per- 
formance of  constitutional  duty,  I  have  stated  to  them, 
without  reserve,  the  result  of  my  own  reflections.  The 
subject  is  of  great  importance  ;  and  one  on  which  we  can 
scarcely  expect  to  be  united  in  sentiment  as  we  are  in 
interest.  It  deserves  a  full  and  free  discussion,  and  can- 
not fail  to  be  benefitted  by  a  dispassionate  comparison  of 
opinions.  Well  aware  myself  of  the  duty  of  reciprocal 
concession  among  the  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  gov- 
ernment, I  can  promise  a  reasonable  spirit  of  co-opera- 
tion, so  far  as  it  can  be  indulged  in  without  the  surrender 
of  constitutional  objections  which  I  believe  to  be  well 
founded.  Any  system  that  may  be  adopted,  should  be 
subjected  to  the  fullest  legal  provision,  so  as  to  leave  no- 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.       259 

thing  to  the  executive  but  what  is  necessary  to  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  imposed  on  him;  and  whatever  plan 
may  be  ultimately  established,  my  own  part  shall  be  so 
discharged  as  to  give  a  fair  trial,  and  the  best  prospect  of 
success. 

The  character  of  the  funds  to  be  received  and  dis- 
bursed in  the  transactions  of  the  government,  likewise 
demands  your  most  careful  consideration. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  those  who  framed  and 
adopted  the  constitution,  having  in  immediate  view  the 
depreciated  paper  of  the  confederacy — of  which  500  dol- 
lars in  paper  were  at  times  only  equal  to  one  dollar  in 
coin — intended  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  similar  evils, 
so  far  at  least  as  related  to  the  transactions  of  the  new 
government,  They  gave  to  Congress  express  powers  to 
coin  money,  and  to  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of 
foreign  coin ;  they  refused  to  give  it  power  to  establish 
corporations,  the  agents  then,  as  now,  chiefly  employed 
to  create  a  paper  currency  ;  they  prohibited  the  states 
from  making  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver  a  legal  tender 
in  payment  of  debts  :  and  the  first  Congress  directed,  by 
positive  law,  that  the  revenue  should  be  received  in  no- 
thing but  gold  and  silver. 

Public  exigency  at  the  outset  of  the  government,  with- 
out direct  legislative  authority,  led  to  the  use  of  banks  as 
fiscal  aid  to  the  treasury.  In  admitted  deviation  from  the 
law,  at  the  same  period,  and  under  the  same  exigency, 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury  received  their  notes  in  pay- 
ment of  duties.  The  sole  ground  on  which  the  practice, 
thus  commenced,  was  then  or  has  since  been  justified,  is 
the  certain,  immediate,  and  convenient  exchange  of  such 
notes  for  specie.  The  government  did  indeed  receive 
the  inconvertible  notes  of  state  banks  during  the  diffi- 
culties of  war ;  and  the  community  submitted  without  a 
murmur  to  the  unequal  taxation  and  multiplied  evils  of 
which  such  a  course  \vas  productive.  With  the  war,  this 
indulgence  ceased,  and  the  banks  were  obliged  again  to  re- 
deem their  notes  in  gold  and  silver.  The  treasury,  in  accor- 
dance with  the  previous  practice,  continued  to  dispense 
with  the  currency  required  by  the  act  of  1789,  and  took 
the  notes  of  banks  in  full  confidence  of  their  being  paid 


260  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

in  specie  on  demand  ;  and  Congress,  to  guard  against  the 
slightest  violation  of  this  principle,  have  declared,  by  law, 
that  if  notes  are  paid  in  the  transactions  of  the  govern- 
ment, it  must  be  under  such  circumstances  as  to  enable 
the  holder  to  convert  them  into  specie  without  deprecia- 
tion or  delay. 

Of  my  own  duties  under  the  existing  laws,  when  the 
banks  suspended  specie  payments,  I  could  not  doubt.  Di- 
rections were  immediately  given  to  prevent  the  reception 
into  the  treasury  of  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver,  or  its 
equivalent :  and  every  practicable  arrangement  was  made 
to  preserve  the  pablic  faith,  by  similar  and  equivalent 
payments  to  the  public  creditors.  The  revenue  from  lands 
had  been  for  some  time  substantially  so  collected,  under 
the  order  issued  by  my  predecessor.  The  effects  of  that 
order  had  been  so  salutary,  and  its  forecast,  in  regard  to 
the  increasing  insecurity  of  bank  paper,  had  become  BO 
apparent,  that  even  before  the  catastrophe,  I  had  resolved 
not  to  interfere  with  its  operation.  Congress  is  now  to 
decide  whether  the  revenue  shall  continue  to  be  so  collect- 
ed or  not. 

The  receipts  into  the  treasury  of  bank  notes  not  redeem- 
ed in  specie  on  demand,  will  not,  I  presume,  be  sanctioned. 
It  would  destroy,  without  the  excuse  of  war  or  public 
distress,  that  equality  of  imports,  and  identity  of  com- 
mercial regulation,  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  our 
confederacy,  and  would  offer  to  each  state  a  direct  tempta- 
tion to  increase  its  foreign  trade  by  depreciating  the  cur- 
rency received  for  duties  in  its  imports.  Such  a  proceed- 
ing would  also  in  a  great  degree  frustrate  the  policy  so 
highly  cherished  of  infusing  into  our  circulation  a  large 
proportion  of  the  precious  metals;  a  policy,  the  wisdom 
of  which  none  can  doubt,  though  there  may  be  different 
opinions  as  to  the  extent  to  which  it  should  be  carried. 
Its  results  have  been  already  too  auspicious,  and  its  suc- 
cess is  too  closely  interwoven  with  the  future  prosperity 
of  the  country,  to  permit  us  for  a  moment  to  contemplate 
its  abandonment.  We  have  seen,  under  its  influence,  our 
epecie  augmented  beyond  eighty  millions ;  our  coinage 
increased  so  as  to  make  that  of  gold  amount  between 
August,  1835,  and  December,  1836,  to  ten  millions  of 


TAN  BURKN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        261 

dollars  ;  exceeding  the  whole  coinage  at  the  mint  during 
the  thirty-one  previous  years.  The  prospect  of  further 
improvement  continued  without  abatement,  until  the  mo- 
ment of  the  suspension  of  specie  payments.  This  policy 
has  now  indeed  been  suddenly  checked,  but  is  still  far 
from  being  overthrown.  Amidst  all  conflicting  theories, 
one  position  is  undeniable  ;  the  precious  metals  will  inva- 
riably disappear  when  there  ceases  to  be  a  necessity  for 
their  use  as  a  circulating  medium.  It  was  in  strict 
accordance  with  this  truth,  that  whilst,  in  the  month  of 
May  last,  they  were  every  where  seen,  and  were  current 
for  all  ordinary  purposes,  they  disappeared  from  circula- 
tion the  moment  the  payment  of  specie  was  refused  by 
the  banks,  and  the  community  tacitly  agreed  to  dispense 
with  its  employment.  Their  place  was  supplied  by  a 
currency  exclusively  of  paper,  and  in  many  cases  of  the 
worst  description.  Already  are  the  bank  notes  in  circu- 
lation greatly  depreciated,  and  they  fluctuate  in  value  be- 
tween one  place  and  another;  thus  diminishing  and  ma- 
king uncertain  the  worth  of  property  and  the  price  of 
labor,  and  failing  to  subserve,  except  at  a  heavy  loss,  the 
purposes  of  business.  With  each  succeeding  day  the 
metallic  currency  decreases ;  by  some  it  is  hoarded,  in 
the  natural  fear  that  once  parted  with,  it  cannot  be  re- 
placed ;  while  by  others  it  is  diverted  from  its  legiti- 
mate uses  for  the  sake  of  gain.  Should  Congress  sanction 
this  condition  of  things  by  making  irredeemable  paper 
receivable  in  payment  of  public  dues,  a  temporary  check 
to  a  wise  and  salutary  policy  will  in  all  probability  be 
converted  into  its  absolute  destruction. 

It  is  true  that  bank  notes  actually  convertible  into  spe- 
cie may  be  received  in  payment  of  the  revenue  without 
being  liable  to  all  these  objections,  and  that  such  a  course 
may  to  some  extent  promote  individual  convenience;  an 
object  always  to  be  considered  where  it  does  not  conflict 
with  the  principles  of  our  government  or  the  general 
welfare  of  the  country.  If  such  notes  only  were  received, 
and  always  under  circumstances  allowing  their  early  pre- 
sentation for  payment,  and  if  at  short  and  fixed  periods,, 
they  were  converted  into  specie,  to  be  kept  by  the  trea*- 
•ury,  some  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  their  recep- 


562  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tion  would  perhaps  be  removed.  To  retain  the  notes  in 
the  treasury  would  be  to  renew,  under  another  form,  the 
loans  of  public  money  to  the  banks,  and  the  evils  conse- 
quent thereon. 

It  is,  however,  a  mistaken  impression  lhat  any  large 
amount  of  specie  is  required  for  public  payments.  Of 
the  seventy  or  eighty  millions  now  estimated  to  be  in  the 
country,  ten  millions  would  be  abundantly  sufficient  for 
that  purpose,  provided  an  accumulation  of  a  large  amount 
of  revenue,  beyond  the  necessary  wants  of  the  govern- 
ment, be  hereafter  prevented.  If  to  these  considerations 
be  added  the  facilities  which  will  arise  from  enabling  the 
treasury  to  satisfy  the  public  creditors  by  its  drafts  or 
notes  received  in  payment  of  the  public  dues,  it  may  be 
safely  assumed  that  no  motive  of  convenience  to  the  citi- 
zen requires  the  reception  of  bank  paper. 

To  say  that  the  refusal  of  paper  money  by  the  govern- 
ment, introduces  an  unjust  discrimination  between  the 
currency  received  by  it,  and  that  used  by  individuals  in 
their  ordinary  affairs,  is,  in  my  judgment,  to  view  it  in  a 
very  erroneous  light.  The  constitution  prohibits  the 
states  from  making  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver  a  tender 
in  the  payment  of  debts,  and  thus  secure  to  every  citizen, 
a  right  to  demand  payment  in  the  legal  currency.  To 
provide  by  law  that  the  government  will  only  receive  its 
dues  in  gold  and  silver,  is  not  to  confer  on  it  any  pecu- 
liar privilege  ;  but  merely  to  place  it  on  an  equality  with 
the  citizen,  by  reserving  to  it  a  right  secured  to  him  by 
the  constitution.  It  is  doubtless  for  this  reason  that  the 
principle  has  been  sanctioned  by  successive  laws,  from 
the  time  of  the  first  Congress  under  the  constitution  down 
to  the  last.  Such  precedent,  never  objected  to,  and  pro- 
ceeding from  such  sources,  affords  a  decisive  answer  to 
the  imputation  of  inequality  or  injustice. 

But,  in  fact,  the  measure  is  one  of  restriction,  not  of 
favor.  To  forbid  the  public  agent  to  receive  in  payment 
any  other  than  a  certain  kind  of  money,  is  to  refuse  him 
a  discretion  possessed  by  every  citizen.  It  may  be  left 
to  those  who  have  the  management  of  their  own  transac- 
tions, to  make  their  own  terms ;  but  no  such  discretion 
should  be  given  to  him  who  acts  merely  as  an  agent  of 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        363 

the  people,  who  is  to  collect  what  the  law  requires,  and 
to  pay  the  appropriations  it  makes.  When  bank  notes 
are  redeemed  on  demand,  there  is  then  no  discrimination 
in  reality,  for  the  individual  who  receives  them  may  at 
his  option  substitute  the  specie  for  them  ;  he  takes  them 
from  convenience  or  choice.  When  they  are  not  so  re- 
deemed, it  will  scarcely  be  contended  that  their  receipt 
and  payment  by  a  public  officer  should  be  permitted, 
though  none  deny  that  right  to  an  individual ;  if  it  were, 
the  effect  would  be  most  injurious  to  the  public,  since 
their  officer  could  make  none  of  those  arrangements  to 
meet  or  guard  against  the  depreciation,  which  an  indivi- 
dual is  at  liberty  to  do.  Nor  can  inconvenience  to  the 
community  be  alleged  as  an  objection  to  such  a  regula- 
tion. Its  object  and  motive  are  their  convenience  and 
welfare. 

If,  in  a  moment  of  simultaneous  and  unexpected  sus- 
pension by  the  banks,  it  adds  something  to  the  many  em- 
barrassments of  that  proceeding,  yet  these  are  far  over- 
balanced by  its  direct  tendency  to  produce  a  wider  cir- 
culation of  gold  and  silver,  to  increase  the  safety  of  bank 
paper,  to  improve  the  general  currency,  and  thus  prevent 
altogether  such  occurrences,  and  the  other  and  far  greater 
evils  that  attended  them. 

It  may,  indeed,  be  questioned,  whether  it  is  not  for  the 
interest  of  the  banks  themselves  that  the  government 
should  not  receive  their  paper.  They  would  be  conducted 
with  more  caution,  and  on  sounder  principles.  By  using 
specie  only  in  its  transactions,  the  government  would  cre- 
ate a  demand  for  it,  which  would,  to  a  great  extent,  pre- 
vent its  exportation,  and  by  keeping  it  in  circulation, 
maintain  a  broader  and  safer  basis  for  the  paper  curren- 
cy. That  the  banks  would  thus  be  rendered  more 
sound,  and  the  community  more  safe,  cannot  admit  of  a 
doubt. 

The  foregoing  views,  it  seems  to  me,  do  but  fairly  carry 
out  the  provisions  of  the  federal  constitution  in  relation 
to  the  currency,  as  far  as  relates  to  the  public  revenue. 
At  the  time  when  that  instrument  was  framed,  there  were 
but  three  or  four  banks  in  the  United  States ;  and  had 
the  extension  of  the  banking  system,  and  the  evils  grow- 


264  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ing  out  of  it,  been  foreseen,  they  would  probably  have 
been  specially  guarded  against.  The  same  policy  which 
led  to  the  prohibition  of  bills  of  credit  by  the  states, 
would  doubtless,  in  that  event,  have  also  interdicted  their 
issue  as  a  currency  in  any  other  form.  The  constitu- 
tion, however,  contains  no  such  prohibition ;  and,  since 
the  states  have  exercised,  for  nearly  half  a  century,  the 
power  to  regulate  the  business  of  banking,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  it  will  be  abandoned.  The  whole  matter 
is  now  under  discussion  before  the  proper  tribunal — the 
people  of  the  states.  •  Never  before  has  the  public  mind 
been  so  thoroughly  awakened  to  a  proper  sense  of  its  im- 
portance; never  has  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings  been 
submitted  to  so  searching  an  inquiry.  It  would  be  dis- 
trusting the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people,  to  doubt 
the  speedy  and  efficient  adoption  of  such  measures  of  re- 
form as  the  publit  good  demands.  All  that  can  rightfully 
be  done  by  the  federal  government  to  promote  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  important  object  will,  without  doubt, 
be  performed. 

In  the  mean  time,  it  is  our  duty  to  provide  all  the  reme- 
dies against  a  depreciated  paper  currency  which  the  con- 
stitution enables  us  to  afford.  The  treasury  department, 
on  several  former  occasions,  has  suggested  the  propriety 
and  importance  of  a  uniform  law  concerning  bankrupt- 
cies of  corporations  and  other  bankers.  Through  the 
instrumentality  of  such  a  law,  a  salutary  check  may  doubt- 
less be  imposed  on  the  issues  of  paper  money,  and  an  ef- 
fectual remedy  given  to  the  citizens  in  a  way  at  once 
equal  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  fully  authorized  by 
the  constitution. 

The  indulgence  granted  by  executive  authority  in  the 
payment  of  bonds  for  duties,  has  been  already  mentioned. 
Seeing  that  the  immediate  enforcement  of  these  obliga- 
tions would  subject  a  large  and  highly  respectable  por- 
tion of  our  citizens  to  great  sacrifices,  and  believing  that 
a  temporary  postponement  could  be  made  without  detri- 
ment to  other  interests,  and  with  increased  certainty  of 
ultimate  payment,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  comply  with  the 
request  that  was  made  of  me.  The  terms  allowed  are  to 
the  full  extent  as  liberal  as  any  that  are  to  be  found  in  the 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.       265 

practice  of  the  executive  department.  It  remains  for 
Congress  to  decide  whether  a  further  postponement  mar 
not  with  propriety  be  allowed,  and  if  so,  their  legislation 
on  the  subject  is  respectfully  invited. 

The  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  will  exhi- 
bit the  condition  of  these  debts;  the  extent  and  effect 
of  the  present  indulgence  ;  the  probable  result  of  its  fur- 
ther extension  of  the  state  of  the  treasury,  and  every 
other  fact  necessary  to  a  full  consideration  of  the  subject. 
Similar  information  is  communicated  in  regard  to  such 
depositories  of  the  public  moneys  as  are  indebted  to  the 
government,  in  order  that  Congress  may  also  adopt  the 
proper  measures  in  regard  to  them. 

The  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  first  half  of  the 
year,  and  an  estimate  of  those  for  the  residue,  will  be  laid 
before  you  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury.  In  his  report 
of  December  last,  it  was  estimated  that  the  current  re- 
ceipts would  fall  short  of  the  expenditures  by  about  three 
millions  of  dollars.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  difference 
will  be  much  greater.  This  is  to  be  attributed  not  only 
to  the  occurrence  of  greater  pecuniary  embarrassments 
in  the  business  of  the  country  than  those  which  were  then 
predicted,  and  consequently,  a  greater  diminution  in  the 
revenue,  but  also  to  the  fact  that  the  appropriations  ex- 
ceeded, by  nearly  ,six  millions,  the  amount  which  was 
asked  for  in  the  estimates  then  submitted.  The  sum  ne- 
cessary for  the  service  of  the  year,  beyond  the  probable 
receipts,  and  the  amount  which  it  was  intended  should  be 
reserved  in  the  treasury  at  the  commencement  of  the  year, 
will  be  about  six  millions.  If  the  whole  of  the  reserved 
balance  be  not  at  once  applied  to  the  current  expendi- 
tures, but  four  millions  be  still  kept  in  the  treasury,  as 
eeems  most  expedient  for  the  uses  of  the  mint,  and  to 
meet  contingencies,  the  sum  needed  will  be  ten  millions. 

In  making  this  estimate,  the  receipts  are  calculated  on 
the  supposition  of  some  further  extension  of  the  indul- 
gence granted  in  the  payment  of  bonds  for  duties,  which 
will  affect  the  amount  of  the  revenue  for  the  present 
year  to  the  extent  of  two  and  a  half  millions. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  procure  the  required   amount  by 
loans  or  increased  taxation.     There  are  now  in  the  trea- 
23 


t66  THE    TKUE    AMERICAN. 

Bury  $9,377,214,  directed  by  the  act  of  the  23d  of  June, 
1836,  to  be  deposited  with  the  states  in  October  next. 
This  sum,  if  so  deposited,  will  be  subject  under  the  law 
to  be  recalled  if  needed,  to  defray  the  existing  appropria- 
tions ;  and  as  it  is  now  evident  that  the  whole,  or  the 
principal  part  of  it,  will  be  wanted  for  that  purpose,  it 
appears  most  proper  that  the  deposit  should  be  withheld. 
Until  the  amount  can  be  collected  from  the  banks,  trea- 
sury notes  may  be  temporarily  issued,  to  be  gradually 
redeemed  as  it  is  received. 

I  am  aware  that  this  course,  may  be  productive  of  in- 
convenience to  many  of  the  states.  Relying  upon  the 
acts  of  Congress  which  held  out  to  them  the  strong  pro- 
bability, if  not  the  certainty,  of  receiving  this  instalment, 
they  have  in  some  instances  adopted  measures  with  which 
its  retention  may  seriously  interfere.  That  such  a  con- 
dition of  things  should  have  occurred  is  much  to  be  re- 
gretted. It  is  not  the  least  among  the  unfortunate  results 
of  the  disasters  of  the  times  ;  and  it  is  for  Congress  to 
devise  a  fit  remedy,  if  there  be  one.  The  money  being 
indispensable  to  the  wants  of  the  treasury,  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive  upon  what  principle  of  justice  or  expediency  its 
application  to  that  object  can  be  avoided.  To  recall  any 
portions  of  the  sums  already  deposited  with  the  states, 
would  be  more  inconvenient  and  less  efficient.  To  bur- 
den the  country  with  increased  taxation,  when  there  is  in 
fact  a  large  surplus  revenue,  would  be  unjust  and  unwise  ; 
to  raise  moneys  by  loans  under  such  circumstances,  and 
thus  to  commence  a  new  national  debt,  would  scarcely  be 
sanctioned  by  the  American  people. 

The  plan  proposed  will  be  adequate  to  all  our  fiscal 
operations,  during  the  remainder  of  the  year.  Should  it 
be  adopted,  the  treasury,  aided  by  the  ample  resources 
of  the  country,  will  be  able  to  discharge,  punctually, 
every  pecuniary  obligation.  For  the  future,  all  that  is 
needed  will  be  that  caution  and  forbearance  in  appropri- 
ations which  the  diminution  of  the  revenue  requires,  and 
which  the  complete  accomplishment  or  great  forwardness 
of  many  expensive  national  undertakings  renders  equally 
consistent  with  prudence  and  patriotic  liberality. 

The  preceding  suggestions  and  recommendations  ai« 


VAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        2fl7 

tubmitted,  in  the  belief  that  their  adoption  by  Congress 
will  enable  the  executive  department  to  conduct  the  fiscal 
concerns  with  success,  so  far  as  their  management  haa 
been  committed  to  it.  Whilst  the  objects  and  the  means 
proposed  to  attain  them  are  within  its  constitutional  pow- 
ers and  appropriate  duties,  they  will,  at  the  same  time,  it 
is  hoped,  by  their  necessary  operation,  afford  essential 
aid  in  the  transaction  of  individual  concerns,  and  thus 
yield  relief  to  the  people  at  large,  in  a  form  adapted  to 
the  nature  of  our  government.  Those  who  look  to  the 
action  of  this  government  for  specific  aid  to  the  citizen 
to  relieve  embarrassments  arising  from  losses  by  revul- 
sions in  commerce  and  credit,  lose  sight  of  the  ends  for 
which  it  was  created,  and  the  powers  with  which  it  ia 
clothed.  It  was  established  to  give  security  to  us  all,  in 
our  lawful  and  honorable  pursuits,  under  the  lasting  safe- 
guard of  republican  institutions.  It  was  not  intended  to 
confer  special  favors  on  individuals,  or  on  any  classes  of 
them  ;  to  create  systems  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  or 
trade ;  or  to  engage  in  them,  either  separately  or  in  con- 
nection with  individual  citizens  or  organized  associations. 
If  its  operations  were  to  be  directed  for  the  benefit  of 
any  class,  equivalent  favors  must,  in  justice,  be  extended 
to  the  rest ;  and  the  attempt  to  bestow  such  favors  with 
an  equal  hand,  or  even  to  select  those  who  should  most 
deserve  them,  wovld  never  be  successful. 

All  communities  are  apt  to  look  to  government  for  too 
much.  Even  in  our  own  country,  where  its  powers  and 
duties  are  so  strictly  limited,  we  are  prone  to  do  so,  espe- 
cially at  periods  of  sudden  embarrassment  and  distress. 
But  this  ought  not  to  be.  The  framers  of  our  excellent 
constitution,  and  the  people  who  approved  it  with  calm 
and  sagacious  deliberation,  acted  at  the  time  on  a  sounder 
principle.  They  wisely  judged  that  the  less  government 
interferes  with  private  pursuits,  the  better  for  the  general 
prosperity.  It  is  not  its  legitimate  object  to  make  men 
rich,  or  to  repair,  by  direct  grants  of  money  or  legislation 
in  favor  of  particular  pursuits,  losses  not  incurred  in  pub- 
lic service.  This  would  be  substantially  to  use  the  pro- 
perty of  some  for  the  benefit  of  others.  But  its  real  duty 
— that  duty,  the  performance  of  which  makes  a  good 


268  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

government  the  most  precious  of  human  blessings — is  to 
enact  and  enforce  a  system  of  general  laws  commensu- 
rate with,  but  not  exceeding,  the  objects  of  its  establish- 
ment, and  leave  every  citizen  and  every  interest  to  reap, 
under  its  benign  protection,  the  reward  of  virtue,  indus- 
try, and  prudence. 

I  cannot  doubt  that  on  this,  as  on  all  similar  occasions, 
the  federal  government  will  find  its  agency  most  condu- 
cive to  the  security  and  happiness  of  the  people,  when 
limited  to  the  exercise  of  its  conceded  powers.  In  never 
assuming,  even  for  a  well-meant  object,  such  powers  as 
were  not  designed  to  be  conferred  upon  it,  we  shall,  in 
reality,  do  most  for  the  general  welfare.  To  avoid  every 
unnecessary  interference  with  the  pursuits  of  the  citizen, 
will  result  in  more  benefit  than  to  adopt  measures  which 
could  only  assist  limited  interests,  and  are  eagerly,  but 
perhaps  naturally,  sought  for,  under  the  pressure  of  tem- 
porary circumstances.  If,  therefore,  I  refrain  from  sug- 
gesting to  Congress  any  specific  plan  for  regulating  the 
exchanges  of  the  country — relieving  mercantile  embar- 
rassments— or  interfering  with  the  ordinary  operations  of 
foreign  or  domestic  commerce — it  is  from  a  conviction 
that  such  measures  are  not  within  the  constitutional  pro- 
vince of  the  general  government,  and  that  their  adoption 
would  not  promote  the  real  and  permanent  welfare  of 
those  they  might  be  designed  to  aid. 

The  difficulties  and  distresses  of  the  times,  though  un- 
questionably great,  are  limited  in  their  extent,  and  cannot 
be  regarded  as  affecting  the  permanent  prosperity  of  the 
nation.  Arising,  in  a  great  degree,  from  the  transactions 
of  foreign  and  domestic  commerce,  it  is  upon  them  that 
they  have  chiefly  fallen.  The  great  agricultural  interest 
has,  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  suffered  comparatively 
little  ;  and  as  if  Providence  intended  to  display  the  munifi- 
cence of  its  goodness  at  the  moment  of  our  greatest  need, 
and  in  direct  contrast  to  the  evils  occasioned  by  the.  way- 
wardness of  man,  we  have  been  blessed  throughout  our 
extended  territory  with  a  season  of  general  health  and  of 
uncommon  fruitfulness.  The  proceeds  of  our  great  sta- 
ple will  soon  furnish  the  means  of  liquidating  debts  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  contribute  equally  to  the  revival 


TAN  BUREN'S  SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE.        269 

of  commercial  activity,  and  the  restoration  of  commer- 
cial credit.  The  banks,  established  avowedly  for  its  sup- 
port, deriving  their  profits  from  it,  and  resting  under  ob- 
ligations to  it  which  cannot  be  overlooked,  will  feel  at 
once  the  necessity  and  justice  of  uniting  their  energies 
with  those  of  the  mercantile  interest. 

The  suspension  of  specie  payments,  at  such  a  time 
and  under  such  circumstances  as  we  have  lately  wit- 
nessed, could  not  be  other  than  a  temporary  measure  ; 
and  we  can  scarcely  err  in  believing  that  the  period 
must  soon  arrive  when  all  that  are  solvent  will  redeem 
their  issues  in  gold  and  silver.  Dealings  abroad  naturally 
depend  on  resources  and  prosperity  at  home.  If  the 
debt  of  our  merchants  has  accumulated,  or  their  cre- 
dit is  impaired,  these  are  fluctuations  always  incident  to 
extensive  or  extravagant  mercantile  transactions.  But 
the  ultimate  security  of  such  obligations  does  not  admit 
of  question.  They  are  guarantied  by  the  resources  of 
a  country,  the  fruits  of  whose  industry  afford  abundant 
means  of  ample  liquidation,,  and  by  the  evident  interest 
of  every  merchant  to  sustain  a  credit  hitherto  high,  by 
promptly  applying  these  means  for  its  preservation. 

I  regret  that  events  have  occurred  which  require  me  to 
ask  your  consideration  of  such  serious  topics.  I  could  have 
wished  that,  in  making  my  first  communication  to  the 
assembled  representatives  of  my  country,  I  had  nothing  to 
dwell  upon  but  the  history  of  her  unalloyed  prosperity. 
Since  it  is  otherwise,  we  can  only  feel  more  deeply  the 
responsibility  of  the  respective  trusts  that  have  been  confi- 
ded to  us,  and  under  the  pressure  of  difficulties,  unite  in 
invoking  the  guidance  and  aid  of  the  Supreme  Ruler  of 
nations,  and  in  laboring  with  zealous  resolution  to  over- 
come the  difficulties  by  which  we  are  environed. 

It  is,  under  such  circumstances,  a  high  gratification  to 
know,  by  long  experience,  that  we  act  for  a  people  to 
whom  the  truth,  however  unpromising,  can  always  be  spo- 
ken with  safety  ;  for  the  trial  of  whose  patriotism  no  emer- 
gency is  too  severe,  and  who  are  sure  never  to  desert  a 
public  functionary  honestly  laboring  for  the  public  good. 
It  seems  just  that  they  should  receive,  without  delay,  any 
aid  iu  their  embarrassments  which  your  deliberations  can 
23* 


270  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

afford.  Coming  directly  from  the  midst  of  them,  and 
knowing  the  course  of  events  in  every  section  of  our 
country,  from  you  may  best  be  learned  as  well  the  extent 
and  nature  of  these  embarrassments,  as  the  most  desira- 
ble measure  of  relief. 

I  am  aware,  however,  that  it  is  not  proper  to  detain 
you  at  present,  any  longer  than  may  be  demanded  by  the 
special  objects  for  which  you  are  convened.  To  them, 
therefore,  I  have  confined  my  communication ;  and  be- 
lieving it  would  not  be  your  own  wish  to  extend  your 
deliberations  beyond  them,  I  reserve  till  the  usual  period 
of  your  annual  meeting,  that  general  information  of  the 
state  of  the  Union  which  the  constitution  requires  me  to 
give. 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER    4,    1837. 

To  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  .• 

We  have  reason  to  renew  the  expression  of  our  devout 
gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  his  benign  protec- 
tion. Our  country  presents  on  every  side  the  evidences 
of  that  continued  favor  under  whose  auspices  it  has 
gradually  risen  from  a  few  feeble  and  dependent  colonies 
to  a  prosperous  and  powerful  confederacy.  We  arc 
blessed  with  domestic  tranquillity  and  all  the  elements  of 
national  prosperity.  The  pestilence  which,  invading  for 
a  time  some  flourishing  portions  of  the  Union,  interrupted 
the  general  prevalence  of  unusual  health,  has  happily 
been  limited  in  extent,  and  arrested  in  its  fatal  career. 
The  industry  and  prudence  of  our  citizens  are  gradually 
relieving  them  from  the  pecuniary  embarrassments  un- 
der which  portions  of  them  have  labored  ;  judicious  le- 
gislation, and  the  natural  and  boundless  resources  of  tho 
country,  have  afforded  wise  and  timely  aid  to  private 
enterprise  ;  and  the  activity  always  characteristic  of  our 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          271 

people  has  already  in  a  great  degree  resumed  its  usual 
and  profitable  channels. 

The  condition  of  our  foreign  relations  has  not  mate- 
rially changed,  since  the  last  annual  message  of  my  pre- 
decessor. We  remain  in  peace  with  all  nations ;  and  no 
efforts  on  my  part,  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  our 
rights  and  the  honor  of  our  country,  shall  be  spared  to 
maintain  a  position  so  consonant  to  our  institutions.  We 
have  faithfully  sustained  the  foreign  policy  with  which  the 
United  States,  under  the  guidance  of  their  first  President, 
took  their  stand  in  the  family  of  nations — that  of  regula- 
ting their  intercourse  with  other  powers  by  the  approved 
principles  of  private  life ;  asking  and  according  equal 
rights  and  equal  privileges ;  rendering  and  demanding 
justice  in  all  cases ;  advancing  their  own  and  discussing 
the  pretensions  of  others,  with  candor,  directness  and  sin- 
cerity ;  appealing  at  all  times  to  reason,  but  never  yield- 
ing to  force,  nor  seeking  to  acquire  any  thing  for  them- 
selves by  its  exercise. 

A  rigid  adherence  to  this  policy  has  left  this  -govern- 
ment  with  scarcely  a  claim  upon  its  justice,  for  injuries 
arising  from  acts  committed  by  its  authority.  The  most 
imposing  and  perplexing  of  those  of  the  United  States 
upon  foreign  governments  for  aggressions  upon  our  citi- 
zens, were  disposed  of  by  my  predecessor.  Independent- 
ly of  the  benefits  conferred  upon  our  citizens  by  restoring 
to  the  mercantile  community  so  many  millions  of  which 
they  had  been  wrongfully  divested,  a  great  service  was  also 
rendered  to  his  country  by  the  satisfactory  adjustment  of 
so  many  ancient  and  irritating  subjects  of  contention ; 
and  it  reflects  no  ordinary  credit  on  his  successful  ad- 
ministration of  public  affairs,  that  this  great  object  was 
accomplished  without  compromising,  on  any  occasion, 
either  the  honor  or  the  peace  of  the  nation. 

With  European  powers,  no  new  subjects  of  difficulty 
have  arisen ;  and  those  which  were  under  discussion,  al- 
though not  terminated,  do  not  present  a  more  unfavora- 
ble aspect  for  the  future  preservation  of  that  good  under^ 
standing  which  it  has  ever  been  our  desire  to  cultivate. 

Of  pending  questions,  the  most  important  is  that  which 
exists,  with  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  in  respect  to 


B72  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

our  north-eastern  boundary.  It  is  with  unfeigned  regret 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  must  look  back  upon 
the  abortive  efforts  made  by  the  executive,  for  a  period 
of  more  than  half  a  century,  to  determine,  what  no  nation 
should  suffer  long  to  remain  in  dispute,  the  true  line 
which  divides  its  possessions  from  those  of  other  powers. 
The  nature  of  the  settlement  on  the  borders  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  of  the  neighboring  territory,  was  for  a 
season  such,  that  this  perhaps  was  not  indispensable  to  a 
faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. 

Time  has,  however,  changed  this  state  of  things ;  and 
has  brought  about  a  condition  of  affairs,  in  which  the 
true  interests  of  both  countries  imperatively  require  that 
this  question  should  be  put  at  rest.  It  is  not  to  be  dis- 
guised, that  with  full  confidence,  often  expressed,  in  the 
desire  of  the  British  government  to  terminate  it,  we  are 
apparently  as  far  from  its  adjustment  as  we  were  at  the 
time  of  signing  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1783.  The  sole 
result  of  long-pending  negotiations,  and  a  perplexing  ar- 
bitration, appears  to  be  a  conviction,  on  its  part,  that  a 
conventional  line  must  be  adopted,  from  the  impossibility 
of  ascertaining  the  true  one  according  to  the  description 
contained  in  that  treaty.  Without  coinciding  in  this 
opinion,  which  is  not  thought  .to  be  well  founded,  my  pre- 
decessor gave  the  strongest  proof  of  the  earnest  desire  of 
the  United  States  to  terminate  satisfactorily  this  dispute, 
by  proposing  the  substitution  of  a  conventional  line,  if  the 
consent  of  the  states  interested  in  the  question  could  be 
obtained. 

To  this  proposition,  no  answer  has  yet  been  received. 
The  attention  of  the  British  government,  however,  has 
been  earnestly  invited  to  the  subject,  and  its  reply  cannot, 
I  am  confident,  be  much  longer  delayed.  The  general 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  are 
of  the  most  friendly  character,  and  I  am  well  satisfied  of 
the  sincere  disposition  of  that  government  to  maintain 
them  upon  their  present  footing.  This  disposition  has 
also,  I  am  persuaded,  become  more  general  with  the  peo- 
ple of  England  than  at  any  previous  period.  It  is  scarce- 
ly necessary  to  say  to  you,  how  cordially  it  is  reciproca- 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          273 

ted  by  the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  conviction  which  must  be  common  to  all, 
of  the  injurious  consequences  that  result  from  keeping 
open  this  irritating  question,  and  the  certainty  that  its  final 
settlement  cannot  be  much  longer  deferred,  will,  I  trust, 
lead  to  an  early  and  satisfactory  adjustment.  At  your 
last  session  I  laid  before  you  the  recent  communications 
between  the  two  governments  and  between  this  govern- 
ment and  that  of  the  state  of  Maine,  in  whose  solicitude, 
concerning  a  subject  in  which  she  has  so  deep  an  inte- 
rest, every  portion  of  the  Union  participates. 

The  feelings  produced  by  a  temporary  interruption  of 
those  harmonious  relations  between  France  and  the  Uni- 
ted States,  which  are  due  as  well  to  the  recollections  of 
former  times  as  to  a  correct  appreciation  of  existing  in- 
terests, have  been  happily  succeeded  by  a  cordial  dispo- 
sition on  bpth  sides  to  cultivate  an  active  friendship  in 
their  future  intercourse.  The  opinion,  undoubtedly  cor- 
rect, and  steadily  entertained  by  us,  that  the  commercial 
relations  at  present  existing  between  the  two  countries, 
are  susceptible  of  great  and  reciprocally  beneficial  im- 
provements, is  obviously  gaining  ground  in  France;  and 
I  am  assured  of  the  disposition  of  that  government  to  fa- 
vor the  accomplishment  of  such  an  object.  This  dispo- 
sition shall  be  met  in  a  proper  spirit  on  our  part.  The 
few  and  comparatively  unimportant  questions  that  re- 
main to  be  adjusted  between  us,  can,  I  have  no  doubt,  be 
settled  with  entire  satisfaction,  and  without  difficulty. 

Between  Russia  and  the  United  States,  sentiments  of 
good-will  continue  to  be  mutually  cherished.  Our  mi- 
nister recently  accredited  to  that  court,  has  been  received 
with  a  frankness  and  cordiality,  and  with  evidences  of  re- 
spect for  his  country,  which  leaves  us  no  room  to  doubt 
the  preservation  in  future  of  those  amicable  and  liberal 
relations  which  have  so  long  and  so  uninterruptedly  ex- 
isted between  the  two  countries.  On  the  few  subjects 
under  discussion  between  us,  an  early  and  just  decision 
is  confidently  anticipated. 

A  correspondence  has  been  opened  with  the  govern- 
ment of  Austria,  for  the  establishment  of  diplomatic  rela- 
tions, in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  Congress,  as  in- 


£74  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

dicated  by  an  appropriation  act  of  the  session  of  1837, 
and  arrangements  made  for  the  purpose,  which  will  be  duly 
carried  into  effect. 

With  Austria  and  Prussia,  and  with  the  states  of  the 
German  empire,  now  composing  with  the  latter  the  Com- 
mercial League,  our  political  relations  are  of  the  most 
friendly  character,  while  our  commercial  intercourse  is  gra- 
dually extending, with  benefit  to  all  who  are  engaged  in  it. 

Civil  war  yet  .rages  in  Spain,  producing  intense  suffer- 
ing to  its  own  people,  and  to  other  nations  inconvenience 
and  regret.  Our  citizens  who  have  claims  upon  that 
country  will  be  prejudiced  for  a  time  by  the  condition  of 
its  treasury,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  long-continued 
and  exhausting  internal  wars.  The  last  instalment  of  the 
interest  of  the  debt  due  under  the  convention  with  the 
queen  of  Spain  has  not  been  paid  ;  and  similar  failures 
may  be  expected  to  happen  until  a  portion  of  the  resour- 
ces of  her  kingdom  can  be  devoted  to  the  extinguishment 
of  its  foreign  debt. 

Having  received  satisfactory  evidence  that  discrimina-- 
ting  tonnage  duties  were  charged  upon  vessels  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  in  the  ports  of  Portugal,  a  proclamation  was 
issued  on  the  llth  day  of  October  last,  in  compliance 
with  the  act  of  May  25th,  1832,  declaring  that  fact,  and 
the  duties  on  foreign  tonnage,  which  were  levied  upon 
Portuguese  vessels  in  the  United  States,  previously  to  the 
passage  of  that  act,  are  accordingly  revived. 

The  act  of  July  4th,  1836,  suspending  the  discriminv 
ting  duties  upon  the  produce  of  Portugal  imported  into 
this  country  in  Portuguese  vessels,  was  passed,  upon  the 
application  of  that  government,  through  its  representa- 
tive here,  under  the  belief  that  no  similar  discrimination 
existed  in  Portugal  to  the  prejudice  of  the  United  States 
I  regret  to  state  that  such  duties  are  now  exacted  in  that 
country,  upon  the  cargoes  of  American  vessels  ;  and  as 
the  act  referred  to,  vests  no  discretion  in  the  executive,  it 
is  for  Congress  to  determine  upon  the  expediency  of  fur- 
ther legislation  upon  the  subject.  Against  these  discri- 
minations, affecting  the  vessels  of  this  country  and  their 
cargoes,  seasonable  remonstrance  was  made,  and  notice 
was  given  to  the  Portuguese  government,  that  unless  they 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          975 

should  be  discontinued,  the  adoption  of  countervailing 
measures  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  would  become 
necessary ;  but  the  reply  of  that  government  received  at 
the  department  of  state  through  our  charge  d'affaires 
at  Lisbon,  in  the  month  of  September  last,  afforded  no 
ground  to  hope  for  the  abandonment  of  a  system,  so  littfe 
in  harmony  with  the  treatment  shown  to  the  vessels  of 
Portugal  and  their  cargoes,  in  the  ports  of  this  country, 
and  so  contrary  to  the  expectations  we  had  a  right  to 
entertain. 

With  Holland,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Naples,  and  Belgi- 
um, a  friendly  intercourse  has  been  uninterruptedly  main- 
tained. 

With  the  government  of  the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  its 
dependencies  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  peace 
and  good-will  are  carefully  cultivated,  and  have  been  fos* 
tered  by  such  good  offices  as  the  relative  distance  and  the 
condition  of  those  countries  would  permit. 

Our  commerce  with  Greece  is  carried  on  under  the 
laws  of  the  two  governments,  reciprocally  beneficial  to 
the  navigating  interests  of  both ;  and  I  have  reason  to 
look  forward  to  the  adoption  of  other  measures  which 
will  be  more  extensively  and  permanently  advantageous. 

Copies  of  the  treaties  concluded  with  the  governments 
of  Siam  and  Muscat  are  transmitted  for  the  information 
of  Congress,  the  ratifications  having  been  received,  and 
the  treaties  made  public,  since  the  close  of  the  last  annu- 
al session.  Already  have  we  reason  to  congratulate  our- 
selves on  the  prospect  of  considerable  commercial  bene- 
fit ;  and  we  have,  besides,  received  from  the  Sultan  of 
Muscat,  prompt  evidence  of  his  desire  to  cultivate  the 
most  friendly  feelings,  by  liberal  acts  towards  one  of  our 
vessels,  bestowed  in  a  manner  so  striking  as  to  require  on 
our  part  a  grateful  acknowledgment. 

Our  commerce  with  the  island  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Ri- 
co, still  labors  under  heavy  restriction,  the  continuance 
of  which  is  a  subject  of  regret.  The  only  effect  of  an 
adherence  to  them  will  be  to  benefit  the  navigation  of 
other  countries,  at  the  expense  both  of  the  United  States 
and  Spain. 

The  independent  nations  of  this  continent  have,  ever 


27(5  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

since  they  emerged  from  the  colonial  state,  experienced 
severe  trials  in  their  progress  to  the  permanent  establish- 
ment of  liberal  political  institutions.  Their  unsettled 
condition  not  only  interrupts  their  own  advances  to  pros- 
perity, but  has  often  seriously  injured  the  other  powers 
of  the  world.  The  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  Peru, 
Chili,  Brazil,  the  Argentina  Republic,  the  governments 
formed  out  of  the  republics  of  Colombia  and  Mexico, 
are  still  pending,  although  many  of  them  have  been  pre- 
sented for  examinations  more  than  twenty  years.  New 
Grenada,  Venezuela,  and  Ecuador,  have  recently  formed 
a  convention  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  and  adjust- 
ing the  claims  upon  the  republic  of  Colombia,  from  which 
it  is  earnestly  hoped  our  citizens  will,  ere  long,  receive 
full  compensation  for  the  injuries  originally  inflicted  upon 
them,  and  for  the  delay  in  affording  it. 

An  advantageous  treaty  of  commerce  has  been  con- 
cluded by  the  United  States  with  the  Peru-Bolivian  Con- 
federation, which  wants  only  the  ratification  of  that  go- 
vernment. The  progress  of  a  subsequent  negotiation  for 
the  settlement  of  claims  upon  Peru,  has  been  unfavora- 
bly affected  by  the  war  between  that  power  and  Chili, 
and  the  Argentine  Republic ;  and  the  same  event  is  like- 
ly to  produce  delays  in  the  settlement  of  our  demands  on 
those  powers. 

The  aggravating  circumstances  connected  with  our 
claims  upon  Mexico,  and  a  variety  of  events  touching 
the  honor  and  integrity  of  our  government,  led  my  pre- 
decessor to  make,  at  the  second  session  of  the  last  Con- 
gress, a  special  recommendation  of  the  course  to  be  pur- 
sued to  obtain  a  speedy  and  final  satisfaction  of  the  inju- 
ries complained  of  by  this  government  and  by  our  citi- 
zens. He  recommended  a  final  demand  of  redress,  with  a 
contingent  authority  to  the  executive  to  make  reprisals,  if 
that  demand  should  be  made  in  vain.  From  the  proceed- 
ings of  Congress  on  that  recommendation,  it  appeared 
that  the  opinion  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature  coin- 
cided with  that  of  the  executive,  that  any  mode  of  re- 
dress known  to  the  law  of  nations  might  justifiably  be  used. 
It  was  obvious,  too,  that  Congress  believed,  with  the 
President,  that  another  demand  should  be  made,  in  order 


VAN    BURBA'S    FIRST    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  277 

to  give  undeniable  and  satisfactory  proof  of  our  desire  to 
avoid  extremities  with  a  neighboring  power;  but  that 
there  was  an  indisposition  to  vest  a  discretionary  authori- 
ty in  the  executive  to  take  redress,  should  it  unfortunate- 
ly be  either  denied  or  unreasonably  delayed  by  the  Mexi- 
can government. 

So  soon  as  the  necessary  documents  were  prepared, 
after  entering  upon  the  duties  of  my  office,  a  special  mes- 
senger was  sent  to  Mexico,  to  make  a  final  demand  of  re- 
dress, with  the  documents  required  by  the  provisions  of 
our  treaty.  The  demand  was  made  on  the  20th  of  July 
last.  The  reply,  which  bears  date  the  29th  of  the  same 
month,  contains  assurances  of  a  desire,  on  the  part  of 
that  government,  to  give  a  prompt  and  explicit  answer  re- 
specting each  of  the  complaints,  but  that  the  examination 
of  them  would  necessarily  be  deliberate ;  that  in  this  ex- 
amination it  would  be  guided  by  the  principles  of  public 
law  and  the  obligation  of  treaties ;  that  nothing  should  be 
left  undone  that  might  lead  to  the  most  equitable  adjust- 
ment of  our  demands ;  and  that  its  determination,  in  re- 
spect to  each  case,  should  be  communicated  through  the 
Mexican  minister  here. 

Since  that  time,  an  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  has  been  accredited  to  this  government 
by  that  of  the  Mexican  republic.  He  brought  with  him 
assurances  of  a  sincere  desire  that  the  pending  differences 
between  the  two  governments  should  be  terminated  in  a 
manner  satisfactory  to  both.  He  was  received  with  re- 
ciprocal assurances,  and  a  hope  was  entertained  that  his 
mission  would  lead  to  a  speedy,  satisfactory,  and  final  ad- 
justment of  all  existing  subjects  of  complaint. .  A  sin- 
cere believer  in  the  wisdom  of  the  pacific  policy  by  which 
the  United  States  have  always  been  governed  in  their 
intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  it  was  my  particular 
desire,  from  the  proximity  of  the  Mexican  republic,  and 
well-known  occurrences  on  our  frontier,  to  be  instrument- 
al in  obviating  all  existing  difficulties  with  that  govern- 
ment, and  in  restoring  to  the  intercourse  between  the  two 
republics,  that  liberal  and  friendly  character  by  which 
they  should  always  be  distinguished.  I  regret,  therefore, 
the  more  deeply,  to  have  found  in  the  recent  communica- 
24 


278  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tions  of  that  government,  so  little  reason  to  hope  that  any 
efforts  of  mine  for  the  accomplishment  of  those  desirable 
objects  would  be  successful. 

Although  the  larger  number,  and  many  of  them  ag- 
gravated cases  of  personal  wrongs  have  been  now  for 
years  before  the  Mexican  government,  and  some  of  the 
causes  of  national  complaint,  and  those  of  the  most  offen- 
sive character,  admitted  of  immediate,  simple  and  satis- 
factory replies,  it  is  only  within  a  few  days  past  that  any 
specific  communication  in  answer  to  our  last  demand, 
made  five  months  ago,  has  been  received  from  the  Mexi- 
can minister.  By  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  state, 
herewith  presented,  and  the  accompanying  documents,  it 
will  be  seen,  that  for  not  one  of  our  public  complaints 
has  satisfaction  been  given  or  offered ;  that  but  one  of 
the  causes  of  personal  wrong  has  been  favorably  consid- 
ered ;  and  that  but  four  cases  of  both  descriptions,  out 
of  all  those  formally  presented,  and  earnestly  pressed, 
have  as  yet  been  decided  upon  by  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment. 

Not  perceiving  in  what  manner  any  of  the  powers  giv- 
en to  the  executive  alone,  could  be  further  usefully  em- 
ployed in  bringing  this  unfortunate  controversy  to  a  satis- 
factory termination,  the  subject  was,  by  my  predecessor, 
referred  to  Congress,  as  one  calling  for  its  interposition. 
In  accordance  with  the  clearly  understood  wishes  of  the 
legislature,  another  and  formal  demand  for  satisfaction 
has  been  made  upon  the  Mexican  government,  with  what 
success  the  documents  now  communicated  will  show. 
On  a  careful  and  deliberate  examination  of  their  con- 
tents, and  considering  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  Mexi- 
can government,  it  has  become  my  painful  duty  to  return 
the  subject,  as  it  now  stands,  to  Congress,  to  whom  it 
belongs  to  decide  upon  the  time,  the  mode,  and  the  mea- 
sures of  redress.  Whatever  may  be  your  decision,  it  shall 
be  faithfully  executed,  confident  that  it  will  be  character- 
ized by  that  moderation  and  justice  which  will,  I  trust,  un- 
der all  circumstances,  govern  the  councils  of  our  country. 

The  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
1837,  was  forty-five  millions  nine  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars.  The 


VAN  BURENS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

receipts  during  the  present  year  from  all  sources,  inclu- 
ding the  amount  of  treasury  notes  issued,  are  estimated 
at  twenty-three  millions  four  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
thousand  nine  hundred  arid  eighty-one  dollars,  constitu- 
ting an  aggregate  of  sixty-nine  millions  four  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  thousand  five  hundred  and  four  dollars.  Of 
this  amount,  about  thirty-five  millions  two  hundred  and 
eighty-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars 
will  have  been  expended,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  on  appro- 
priations made  by  Congress ;  and  the  residue,  amounting 
to  thirty-four  millions  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  forty-three  dollars,  will  be  the 
nominal  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  of  January 
next.  But  of  that  sum,  only  one  million  eighty^-five  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  ninety-eight  dollars  is  considered 
as  immediately  available  for,  and  applicable  to,  public 
purposes. 

Those  portions  of  it  which  will  be  for  some  time  una- 
vailable, consist  chiefly  of  sums  deposited  with  the  states, 
and  due  from  the  former  deposit  banks.  The  details 
upon  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  annual  report  of 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury.  The  amount  of  treasury 
notes  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  issue  during  the  year 
on  account  of  those  funds  being  unavailable,  will,  it  is 
supposed,  not  exceed  four  and  a  half  millions.  It  seemed 
proper  in  the  condition  of  the  country,  to  have  the  esti- 
mates on  all  subjects  made  as  low  as  practicable,  without 
prejudice  to  any  great  public  measures.  The  departments 
were,  therefore,  desired  to  prepare  their  estimates  accord- 
ingly; and  I  am  happy  to  find  that  they  have  been  able 
to  graduate  them  on  so  economical  a  scale. 

In  the  great  and  often  unexpected  fluctuations  to 
which  the  revenue  is  subjected,  it  is  not  possible  to  com- 
pute the  receipts  beforehand  with  great  certainty  ;  but 
should  they  not  differ  essentially  from  present  anticipa- 
tions, and  should  the  appropriations  not  much  exceed  the 
estimates,  no  difficulty  seems  likely  to  happen  in  defraying 
the  current  expenses  with  promptitude  and  fidelity. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  embarrassments  which  have 
recently  occurred  in  commercial  affairs,  and  the  liberaJ 
indulgence  which,  in  consequence  of  those  embarrass- 


280  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ments,  has  been  extended  to  both  the  merchants  and  the 
banks,  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  anticipate  that  the 
treasury  notes,  which  have  been  issued  during  the  present 
year  will  be  redeemed,  and  that  the  resources  of  the  trea- 
sury, without  any  resort  to  loans  or  increased  taxes,  will 
prove  ample  for  defraying  all  charges  imposed  on  it  du- 
ring 1838. 

The  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  will  afford 
you  a  more  minute  exposition  of  all  matters  connected 
with  the  administration  of  the  finances  during  the  current 
year  ;  a  period  which,  for  the  amount  of  public  moneys 
disbursed  and  deposited  with  the  states,  as  well  as  the 
financial  difficulties  encountered  and  overcome,  has  few 
parallels  in  our  history. 

Your  attention  was,  at  the  last  session,  invited  to  the 
necessity  of  additional  legislative  provisions  in  respect 
to  the  collection,  safe-keeping,  and  transfer  of  the  public 
money.  No  law  having  been  then  matured,  and  not  un- 
derstanding the  proceedings  of  Congress  as  intended  to 
be  final,  it  becomes  my  duty  again  to  bring  the  subject  to 
your  notice. 

On  that  occasion,  three  modes  of  performing  this 
branch  of  the  public  service  were  presented  for  conside- 
ration. These  were,  the  creation  of  a  national  bank  ; 
the  revival,  with  modifications,  of  the  deposit  system  esta- 
blished by  the  act  of  the  23d  June,  1836,  permitting  the 
use  of  the  public  moneys  by  the  banks  ;  and  the  discon- 
tinuance of  the  use  of  such  institutions  for  the  purposes 
referred  to,  with  suitable  provisions  for  their  accomplish- 
ment through  the  agency  of  public  officers.  Considering 
the  opinions  of  both  houses  of  Congress  on  the  two  first 
propositions  as  expressed  in  the  negative,  in  which  I  entire- 
ly concur,  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  again  to  recur  to  them. 
In  respect  to  the  last,  you  have  had  an  opportunity,  since 
your  adjournment,  not  only  to  test  still  further  the  expedi- 
ency of  the  measure,  by  the  continued  practical  operation 
of  such  parts  of  it  as  are  now  in  force,  but  also  to  discover 
— what  should  ever  be  sought  for  and  regarded  with  the 
utmost  deference — the  opinions  and  wishes  of  the  people. 

The  national  will  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  republic, 
and  on  all  subjects  within  the  limits  of  its  constitutional 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          2&I 

powers,  should  be  faithfully  obeyed  by  the  public  servant. 
Since  the  measure  in  question  was  submitted  to  your  con- 
sideration, most  of  you  have  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
personal  communication  with  your  constituents.  For  one 
state  only  has  an  election  been  held  for  the  federal  go- 
vernment ;  but  the  early  day  at  which  it  took  place,  de- 
prives the  measure  under  consideration  of  much  of  the 
support  it  might  otherwise  have  derived  from  the  result. 
Local  elections  for  state  officers  have,  however,  been  held 
in  several  of  the  states,  at  which  the  expediency  of  the 
plan  proposed  by  the  executive  has  been  more  or  less  dis- 
cussed. You  will,  I  am  confident,  yield  to  their  results 
the  respect  due  to  every  expression  of  the  public  voice. 
Desiring,  however,  to  arrive  at  truth  and  a  just  view  of 
the  subject  in  all  its  bearings,  you  will  at  the  same  time 
remember,  ,that  questions  of  far  deeper  and  more  imme- 
diate local  interest  than  the  fiscal  plans  of  the  national 
treasury  were  involved  in  those  elections. 

Above  all,  we  cannot  overlook  the  striking  fact,  that 
there  were,  at  the  time,  in  those  states,  more  than  one 
hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  bank  capital,  of  which 
large  portions  were  subject  to  actual  forfeiture — other 
large  portions  upheld  only  by  special  and  limited  legisla- 
tive indulgences — and  most  of  it,  if  not  all,  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  dependent  for  a  continuance  of  its  corpo- 
rate existence  upon  the  will  of  the  state  legislatures  to  be 
then  chosen.  Apprised  of  this  circumstance,  you  will 
judge  whether  it  is  not  most  probable  that  the  peculiar 
condition  of  that  vast  interest  in  these  respects,  the  ex- 
tent to  which  it  has  been  spread  through  all  the  ramifica- 
tions of  society,  its  direct  connection  with  the  then  pend- 
ing elections,  and  the  feelings  it  was  calculated  to  infuse 
into  the  canvass,  have  not  exercised  a  far  greater  influ- 
ence over  the  result  than  any  which  could  possibly  have 
been  produced  by  a  conflict  of  opinion  in  respect  to  a 
question  in  the  administration  of  the  general  government, 
more  remote  and  far  less  important  in  its  bearings  upon 
that  interest. 

I  have  found  no  reason  to  change  my  own  opinion  as  to 
the  expediency  of  adopting  the  system  proposed,  being  per- 
fectly satisfied  that  there  will  be  neither  stabilitv  nor  safe- 
24* 


282  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ty,  either  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  government,  or  in  the 
pecuniary  transactions  of  individuals  and  corporations, 
so  long  as  a  connection  exists  between  them,  which,  like 
the  past,  offers  such  strong  inducements  to  make  them 
the  subjects  of  political  agitation.  Indeed,  I  am  more 
than  ever  convinced  of  the  dangers  to  which  the  free 
and  unbiassed  exercise  of  political  opinion — the  only  sure 
foundation  and  safeguard  of  republican  government — 
would  be  exposed  by  any  further  increase  of  ttie  already 
overgrown  influence  of  corporate  authorities — I  cannot, 
therefore,  consistently  with  my  views  of  duty,  advise  a 
renewal  of  a  connection  which  circumstances  have  dis- 
solved. 

The  discontinuance  of  the  use  of  state  banks  for  fiscal 
purposes  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  measure  of  hosti- 
lity towards  these  institutions.  Banks  properly  esta- 
blished and  conducted,  are  highly  useful  to  the  business 
of  the  country,  and  doubtless  will  c.ontinue  to  exist  in 
the  states  so  long  as  they  conform  to  their  laws,  and  are 
found  to  be  safe  and  beneficial.  How  they  should  be 
created,  what  privileges  they  should  enjoy,  under  what 
responsibilities  they  should  act,  and  to  what  restrictions 
they  should  be  subject,  are  questions  which,  as  I  observed 
on  a  previous  occasion,  belong  to  the  states  to  decide. 
Upon  their  rights,  or  the  exercise  of  them,  the  general 
government  can  have  no  motive  to  encroach.  Its  duty 
toward  them  is  well  performed,  when  it  refrains  from 
legislating  for  their  special  benefit,  because  such  legisla- 
tion would  violate  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  be 
unjust  to  other  interests ;  when  it  takes  no  steps  to  im- 
pair their  usefulness,  but  so  manages  its  own  affairs  as 
to  make  it  the  interest  of  those  institutions  to  strengthen 
and  improve  their  condition  for  the  security  and  welfare 
of  the  community  at  large.  They  have  no  right  to  insist 
on  a  connection  with  the  federal  government,  nor  on  the 
use  of  the  public  money  for  their  own  benefit. 

The  object  of  the  measure  under  consideration  is,  to 
avoid  for  the  future  a  compulsory  connection  of  this  kind. 
It  proposes  to  place  the  general  government,  in  regard  to 
the  essential  points  of  the  collection,  safe-keeping  and 
transfer  of  the  public  money,  in  a  situation  which  shall 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          283 

relieve  it  from  all  dependence  on  the  will  of  irresponsible 
individuals  or  corporations ;  to  withdraw  those  moneys 
from  the  uses  of  private  trade,  and  confine  them  to  agents 
constitutionally  selected  and  controlled  by  law;  to  ab- 
stain from  improper  interference  with  the  industry  of  the 
people,  and  withhold  inducements  to  improvident  deal- 
ings on  the  part  of  individuals ;  to  give  stability  to  the 
concerns  of  the  treasury;  to  preserve  the  measures  of  the 
government  from  the  unavoidable  reproaches  that  flow 
from  such  a  connection,  and  the  banks  themselves  from 
the  injurious  effects  of  a  supposed  participation  in  the 
political  conflicts  of  the  day,  from  which  they  will  other- 
wise find  it  difficult  to  escape. 

These  are  my  views  upon  this  important  subject ; 
formed  after  careful  reflection,  and  with  no  desire  but  to 
arrive  at  what  is  most  likely  to  promote  the  public  inte- 
rest. They  are  now,  as  they  were  before,  submitted  with 
an  unfeigned  deference  for  the  opinions  of  others.  It 
was  hardly  to  be  hoped  that  changes  so  important,  on  a 
subject  so  interesting,  could  be  made  without  producing 
a  serious  diversity  of  opinion  ;  but  so  long  as  those  con- 
flicting views  are  kept  above  the  influence  of  individual 
or  local  interests  ;  so  long  as  they  pursue  only  the  gene- 
ral good,  and  are  discussed  with  moderation  and  candor, 
such  diversity  is  a  benefit,  not  an  injury.  If  a  majority 
of  Congress  see  the  public  welfare  in  a  different  light ; 
and  more  especially  if  they  should  be  satisfied  that  the 
measure  proposed  would  not  be  acceptable  to  the  people  ; 
I  shall  look  to  their  wisdom  to  substitute  such  as  may  be 
more  conducive  to  the  one,  and  more  satisfactory  to  the 
other.  In  any  event,  they  may  confidently  rely  on  my 
hearty  co-operation  to  the  fullest  extent  which  my  views 
of  the  constitution  and  my  sense  of  duty  will  permit. 

It  is  obviously  important  to  this  branch  of  the  public 
service,  and  to  the  business  and  quiet  of  the  country,  that 
the  whole  subject  should  in  some  way  be  settled  and  regu- 
lated by  law ;  and,  if  possible,  at  your  present  session. 
Besides  the  plan  above  referred  to,  I  am  not  aware  that 
any  one  has  been  suggested,  except  that  of  keeping  the 
public  money  in  the  state  banks,  in  special  deposit.  This 
plan  is,  to  some  extent,  in  accordance  with  the  practice 


284  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  the  government,  and  which,  except,  perhaps  during  the 
operation  of  the  late  deposit  act,  has  always  been  allowed, 
even  during  the  existence  of  a  national  bank,  to  make  a 
temporary  use  of  the  state  banks,  in  particular  places,  for 
the  safe-keeping  of  portions  of  the  revenue. 

This  discretionary  power  might  be  continued,  if  Con- 
gress deem  it  desirable,  whatever  general  system  may 
be  adopted.  So  long  as  the  connection  is  voluntary,  we 
need  perhaps  anticipate  few  of  those  difficulties,  and  little 
of  that  dependence  on  the  banks,  which  must  attend 
every  such  connection  when  compulsory  in  its  nature,  and 
when  so  arranged  as  to  make  the  banks  a  fixed  part  of 
the  machinery  of  government.  It  is  undoubtedly  in  the 
power  of  Congress  so  to  regulate  and  guard  it  as  to  pre- 
vent the  public  money  from  being  applied  to  the  use,  or 
intermingled  with  the  affairs,  of  individuals.  Thus  ar- 
ranged, although  it  would  not  give  to  the  government 
that  control  over  its  own  funds  which  I  desire  to  secure 
to  it  by  the  plan  I  have  proposed,-  it  would,  it  must  be 
admitted,  in  a  great  degree,  accomplish  one  of  the  objects 
which  has  recommended  that  plan  to  my  judgment — the 
separation  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  government  from 
those  of  individuals  or  corporations. 

With  these  observations,  I  recommend  the  whole  mat- 
ter to  your  dispassionate  reflection ;  confidently  hoping 
that  some  conclusion  may  be  reached  by  your  delibera- 
tions, which,  on  the  one  hand,  shall  give  stability  to  the 
fiscal  operations  of  the  government,  and  be  consistent, 
on  the  other,  with  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  with 
the  interests  and  wishes  of  the  great  mass  of  our  con- 
stituents. 

It  was  my  hope  that  nothing  would  occur  to  make  ne- 
cessary, on  this  occasion,  any  allusion  to  the  late  national 
bank.  There  are  circumstances,  however,  connected 
with  the  present  state  of  its  affairs,  that  bear  so  directly 
on  the  character  of  the  government  and  the  welfare  of 
the  citizen,  that  I  should  not  feel  myself  excused  in  ne- 
glecting to  notice  them.  The  charter  which  terminated 
its  banking  privileges  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1836, 
continued  its  corporate  powers  two  years  more,  for  the 
tole  purpose  of  closing  its  affairs,  with  authority  "  to 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          285 

use  the  corporate  name,  style  and  capacity,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  suits,  for  a  final  settlement  and  liquidation  of 
the  affairs  and  acts  of  the  corporation,  and  for  the  sale 
and  disposition  of  their  estate,  real,  personal  and  mixed, 
but  for  no  other  purpose  or  in  any  other  manner  what- 
soever." Just  before  the  banking  privileges  ceased,  its 
effects  were  transferred  by  the  bank  to  a  new  state  in- 
stitution, then  recently  incorporated,  in  trust,  for  the 
discharge  of  its  debts  and  the  settlement  of  its  affairs. 

With  this  trustee,  by  authority  of  Congress,  an  ad- 
justment was  subsequently  made  of  the  large  interest 
which  the  government  had  in  the  stock  of  the  institu- 
tion. The  manner  in  which  a  trust  unexpectedly  created 
upon  the  act  granting  the  charter,  and  involving  such 
great  public  interests,  has  been  executed,  would,  under 
any  circumstance,  be  a  fit  subject  of  inquiry ;  but  much 
more  does  it  deserve  your  attention  when  it  embraces  the 
redemption  of  obligations  to  which  the  authority  and 
credit  of  the  United  States  have  given  value.  The  two 
years  allowed  are  now  nearly  at  an  end.  It  is  well  un- 
derstood that  the  trustee  has  not  redeemed  and  cancelled 
the  outstanding  notes  of  the  bank,  but  has  re-issued,  and 
is  continually  re-issuing,  since  the  3d  of  March,  1836, 
the  notes  which  have  been  received  by  it  to  a  vast  amount. 

According  to  its  own  official  statement,  so  late  as  the 
first  of  October  last,  nineteen  months  after  the  banking 
privileges  given  by  the  charter  had  expired,  it  had  under 
its  control  uncancelled  notes  of  the  late  bank  of  the  United 
States  to  the  amount  of  twenty-seven  millions  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty-one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six 
dollars,  of  which  six  millions  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars  were 
in  actual  circulation,  one  million  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-seven  dollars  at 
state  bank  agencies,  and  three  millions  two  thousand 
three  hundred  and  ninety  dollars  in  transitu :  thus  show- 
ing that  upwards  of  ten  millions  and  a  half  of  the  notes 
of  the  old  bank  were  then  still  kept  outstanding. 

The  impropriety  of  this  procedure  is  obvious ;  it  being 
the  duty  of  the  trustee  to  cancel  and  not  to  put  forth  the 
notes  of  an  institution,  whose  concerns  it  had  undertaken 


286  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

to  wind  up.  If  the  trustee  has  a  right  to  re-issue  these 
notes  now,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  he  may  not  continue 
to  do  so  after  the  expiration  of  the  two  years.  As  no 
one  could  have  anticipated  a  course  so  extraordinary,  the 
prohibitory  clause  of  the  charter  above  quoted  was  not 
accompanied  by  any  penalty  or  other  special  provision 
for  enforcing  it;  nor  have  we  any  general  law  for  the 
prevention  of  similar  acts  in  future. 

But  it  is  not  in  this  view  of  the  subject  alone  that  your 
interposition  is  required.  The  United  States,  in  settling 
with  the  trustee  for  their  stock,  have  withdrawn  their 
funds  from  their  former  direct  liability  to  the  creditors 
of  the  old  bank,  yet  notes  of  the  institution  continue  to 
be  sent  forth  in  its  name,  and  apparently  upon  the  au- 
thority of  the  United  States.  The  transactions  connected 
with  the  employment  of  the  bills  of  the  old  bank  are  of  vast 
extent;  and  should  they  result  unfortunately, the  interests 
of  individuals  may  be  deeply  compromised.  Without  un- 
dertaking to  decide  how  far,  or  in  what  form,  if  any,  the 
trustee  could  be  made  liable  for  notes  which  contain  no 
obligation  on  his  part;  or  the  old  bank,  for  such  as  are 
put  in  circulation  after  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  and 
without  its  authority ;  or  the  government  for  indemnity 
in  case  of  loss,  the  question  still  presses  itself  upon  your 
consideration,  whether  it  is  consistent  with  the  duty  and 
good  faith  on  the  part  of  the  government,  to  witness  this 
proceeding  without  a  single  effort  to  arrest  it. 

The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  which  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  secretary  of 
the"  treasury,  will  show  how  the  affairs  of  that  office 
have  been  conducted  for  the  past  year.  The  disposition 
of  the  public  lands  is  one  of  the  most  important  trusts 
confided  to  Congress.  The  practicability  of  retaining  the 
title  and  control  of  such  extensive  domains  in  the  general 
government,  and  at  the  same  time  admitting  the  territo- 
ries embracing  them  into  the  federal  union,  as  co-equal 
with  the  original  states,  was  seriously  doubted  by  many 
of  our  wisest  statesmen.  All  feared  that  they  would 
become  a  source  of  discord,  and  many  carried  their  ap- 
prehensions so  far  as  to  see  in  them  the  seeds  of  a  future 
dissolution  of  the  confederacy.  But  happily  our  expe- 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          287 

rience  has  already  been  sufficient  to  quiet,  in  a  great 
degree,  all  such  apprehensions.  The  position,  at  one 
time  assumed — that  the  admission  of  new  states  into  the 
Union  on  the  same  footing  with  the  original  states,  was 
incompatible  with  a  right  of  soil  in  the  United  States, 
and  operated  as  a  surrender  thereof,  notwithstanding  the 
terms  of  the  compacts  by  which  their  admission  was 
designed  to  be  regulated — has  been  wisely  abandoned. 

Whether  in  the  new  or  the  old  states,  all  now  agree 
that  the  right  of  soil  to  the  public  lands  remains  in  the 
federal  government,  and  that  these  lands  constitute  a  com- 
mon property,  to  be  disposed  of  for  the  common  benefit 
of  all  the  states,  old  and  new.  Acquiescence  in  this  just 
principle  by  the  people  of  the  new  states  has  naturally 
promoted  a  disposition  to  adopt  the  most  liberal  policy  in 
the  sale  of  the  public  lands.  A  policy  which  should  be 
limited  to  the  mere  object  of  selling  the  lands  for  the 
greatest  possible  sum  of  money,  without  regard  to  higher 
considerations,  finds  but  few  advocates.  On  the  contra- 
ry, it  is  generally  conceded,  that  while  the  mode  of  dispo- 
sition adopted  by  the  government,  should  always  be  a 
prudent  one,  yet  its  leading  object  ought  to  be  the  early 
settlement  and  cultivation  of  the  lands  sold  ;  and  that  it 
should  discountenance,  if  it  cannot  prevent,  the  accu- 
mulation of  large  tracts  in  the  same  hands,  which  must 
necessarily  retard  the  growth  of  the  new  states,  or 
entail  upon  them  a  dependent  territory  and  its  attendant 
evils. 

A  question  embracing  such  important  interests,  and  so 
well  calculated  to  enlist  the  feelings  of  the  people  in 
every  quarter  of  the  Union,  has  very  naturally  given  rise 
to  numerous  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the  existing 
system.  The  distinctive  features  of  the  policy  that  has 
hitherto  prevailed,  are,  to  dispose  of  the  public  lands  at 
moderate  prices,  thus  enabling  a  greater  number  to  enter 
into  competition  for  their  purchase,  and  accomplishing  a 
double  object  of  promoting  their  rapid  settlement  by  the 
purchasers,  and  at  the  same  time  increasing  the  receipts 
of  the  treasury  ;  to  sell  for  cash,  thereby  preventing  the 
disturbing  influence  of  a  large  mass  of  private  citizens 
indebted  to  the  government  which  they  have  a  voice  in 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

controlling;  to  bring  them  into  market  no  faster  than 
good  lands  are  supposed  to  be  wanted  for  improvements, 
thereby  preventing  the  accumulation  of  large  tracts  in 
few  hands ;  and  to  apply  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  to  the 
general  purposes  of  the  government ;  thus  diminishing 
the  amount  to  be  raised  from  the  people  of  the  states  by 
taxation,  and  giving  each  state  its  portion  of  the  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  this  common  fund  in  a  manner  the 
most  quiet,  and,  at  the  same  time,  perhaps,  the  most  equi- 
table that  can  be  devised. 

These  provisions,  with  occasional  enactments  in  be- 
half of  special  interests  deemed  entitled  to  the  favor  of 
government,  have,  in  their  execution,  produced  results 
as  beneficial  upon  the  whole  as  could  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected in  a  matter  so  vast,  so  complicated,  and  so  exci- 
ting. Upwards  of  seventy  millions  of  acres  have  been 
sold,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  believed  to  have  been 
purchased  for  actuah  settlement.  The  population  of  the 
new  states  and  territories  created  out  of  the  public  do- 
main, increased  between  1800  and  1830,  from  'less  than 
sixty  thousand,  to  upwards  of  two  millions  three  hundred 
thousand  souls,  constituting,  at  the  latter  period,  about 
one  fifth  of  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States.  The 
increase  since  cannot  be  accurately  known,  but  the  whole 
may  now  be  safely  estimated  at  over  three  and  a  half 
millions  of  souls ;  composing  nine  states,  the  representa- 
tives of  which  constitute  above  one  third  of  the  Senate, 
and  over  one  sixth  of  the  House  of  the  Representatives 
of  the  United  States. 

Thus  has  been  formed  a  body  of  free  and  independent 
landholders,  with  a  rapidity  unequalled  in  the  history  of 
mankind  ;  and  this  great  result  has  been  produced  with- 
out leaving  any  thing  for  future  adjustment  between  the 
government  and  its  citizens.  The  system  under  which 
so  much  has  been  accomplished  cannot  be  intrinsically 
bad,  and  with  occasional  modifications,  to  correct  abu- 
ses, and  adapt  it  to  changes  of  circumstances,  may,  I 
think,  be  safely  trusted  for  the  future.  There  is,  in  the 
management  of  such  extensive  interests,  much  virtue  in 
stability  ;  and  although  great  and  obvious  improvements 
should  not  be  declined,  changes  should  never  be  made 


TAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          289 

without  the  fullest  examination,  and  the  clearest  demon- 
stration of  their  practical  utility. 

In  the  history  of  the  past,  we  have  an  assurance  that 
this  safe  rule  of  action  will  not  be  departed  from  in  rela- 
tion to  the  pnblic  lands ;  nor  is  it  believed  that  any  ne- 
cessity exists  for  interfering  with  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  system,  or  that  the  public  mind,  even  in  the 
new  states,  is  desirous  of  any  radical  alterations.  On  the 
contrary,  the  general  disposition  appears  to  be,  to  make 
such  modifications  and  additions  only  as  will  more  ef- 
fectually carry  out  the  original  policy  of  filling  our  new 
states  and  territories  with  an  industrious  and  independent 
population. 

The  modification  most  perseveringly  pressed  upon  Con- 
gress, which  has  occupied  so  much  of  its  time  for  years 
past,  and  will  probably  do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come,  if 
not  sooner  satisfactorily  adjusted,  is  a  reduction  in  the 
cost  of  such  portions  of  the  pubiic  lands  as  are  ascer- 
tained to  be  unsaleable  at  the  rate  now  established  bylaw, 
and  a  graduation,  according  to  their  relative  value,  of  the 
prices  at  which  they  may  hereafter  be  sold.  It  is  worthy 
of  consideration  whether  justice  may  not  be  done  to 
every  interest  in  this  matter,  and  a  vexed  question  set  at 
rest,  perhaps  forever,  by  a  reasonable  compromise  of 
conflicting  opinions.  Hitherto,  after  being  offered  at 
public  sale,  lands  have  been  disposed  of  at  one  uniform 
price,  whatever  difference  there  might  be  in  their  intrin- 
sic value. 

The  leading  considerations  urged  in  favor  of  the  mea- 
sure referred  to,  are,  that  in  almost  all  the  land  districts, 
and  particularly  in  those  in  which  the  lands  have  been 
long  surveyed  and  exposed  to  sale,  there  are  still  remain- 
ing numerous  and  large  tracts  of  every  gradation  of  value, 
from  the  government  price  downward ;  that  these  lands 
will  not  be  purchased  at  the  government  price,  so  long  as 
better  can  be  conveniently  obtained  for  the  same  amount ; 
that  there  are  large  tracts  which  even  the  improvements 
of  the  adjacent  lands  will  never  raise  to  that  price ;  and 
that  the  present  uniform  price,  combined  with  their  irre- 
gular value,  operates  to  prevent  a  desirable  compactness 
of  settlement  in  the  new  states,  and  to  retard  the  full  de- 
25 


200  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

velopment  of  that  wise  policy  on  which  our  land  system 
is  founded,  to  the  injury  not  only  of  the  several  states 
where  the  lands  lie,  but  of  the  United  States  as  a  whole. 

The  remedy  proposed  has  been  a  reduction  in  prices 
according  to  the  length  of  time  the  lands  have  been  in 
the  market,  without  reference  to  any  other  circumstances. 
The  certainty  that  the  efflux  of  time  would  not  always  in 
such  cases,  and  perhaps  not  even  generally,  furnish  a 
true  criterion  of  value;  and  the  probability  that  persons 
residing  in  the  vicinity,  as  the  period  for  the  reduction  of 
prices  approached,  would  postpone  purchases  they  would 
otherwise  make,  for  the  purpose  of  availing  themselves 
of  the  lower  price,  with  other  considerations  of  a  similar 
character,  have  hitherto  been  successfully  urged  to  defeat 
the  graduation  upon  time. 

May  not  all  reasonable  desires  upon  this  subject  be  sa- 
tisfied without  encountering  any  of  these  objections  ?  All 
will  concede  the  abstract  principle,  that  the  price  of  the 
public  lands  should  be  proportioned  to  their  relative  value, 
so  far  as  that  can  be  accomplished  without  departing  from 
the  rule  heretofore  observed,  requiring  fixed  prices  in 
cases  of  private  entries.  The  difficulty  of  the  subject 
seems  to  lie  in  the  mode  of  ascertaining  what  that  value 
is.  Would  not  the  safest  plan  be  that  which  has  been 
adopted  by  many  of  the  states  as  to  the  basis  of  taxation 
— an  actual  valuation  of  lands  and  classification  of  them 
into  different  rates  ? 

Would  it  not  be  practicable  and  expedient  to  cause 
the  relative  value  of  the  public  lands  in  the  old  districts, 
which  have  been  for  a  certain  length  of  time  in  market, 
to  be  appraised  and  classed  into  two  or  more  rates  below 
the  present  minimum  price,  by  the  officers  now  employed 
in  this  branch  of  the  public  service,  or  in  any  other  mode 
deemed  preferable,  and  to  make  those  prices  permanent, 
if  upon  the  coming  in  of  the  report  they  shall  prove  sa- 
tisfactory to  Congress  ?  Cannot  all  the  objects  of  gradu- 
ation be  accomplished  in  this  way,  and  the  objections 
which  have  hitherto  been  urged  against  it,  avoided  ?  It 
would  seem  to  me  that  such  a  step,  with  a  restriction  of 
the  sales  to  limited  quantities,  and  for  actual  improvement, 
Vould  be  free  from  all  just  exceptions. 


AN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  291 

By  the  full  exposition  of  the  value  of  the  lands  thus 
furnished  and  extensively  promulgated,  persons  living  at 
a  distance  would  be  informed  of  their  true  condition, 
and  enabled  to  enter  into  competition  with  those  residing 
in  the  vicinity ;  the  means  of  acquiring  an  independent 
home  would  be  brought  within  the  reach  of  many  who 
are  unable  to  purchase  at  present  prices ;  the  population 
of  the  new  states  would  be  more  compact,  and  large 
tracts  would  be  sold  which  would  otherwise  remain  on 
hand  ;  not  only  would  the  land  be  brought  within  the 
means  of  a  large  number  of  purchasers,  but  many  per- 
sons possessed  of  greater  means  would  be  content  to  set- 
tle on  a  larger  quantity  of  the  poorer  lands,  rather  than 
emigrate  farther  west  in  pursuit  of  a  smaller  quantity  of 
better  lands. 

Such  a  measure  would  also  seem  to  be  more  consistent 
with  the  policy  of  the  existing  laws — that  of  converting 
the  public  domain  into  cultivated  farms  owned  by  their 
occupants.  That  policy  is  not  best  promoted  by  sending 
emigration  up  the  almost  interminable  streams  of  the  west, 
to  occupy  in  groups  the  best  spots  of  land,  leaving  in> 
mense  wastes  behind  them,  and  enlarging  the  frontier  be- 
yond the  means  of  the  government  to  afford  it  adequate 
protection  ;  but  in  encouraging  it  to  occupy,  with  rea- 
sonable denseness,  the  territory  over  which  it  advances, 
and  find  its  best  defence  in  the  compact  front  which  it 
presents  to  the  Indian  tribes.  Many  of  you  will  bring  to 
the  consideration  of  the  subject  the  advantage  of  local 
knowledge  and  greater  experience,  and  all  will  be  desi- 
rous of  making  an  early  and  final  disposition  of  every  dis- 
turbing question  in  regard  to  this  important  interest.  If 
these  suggestions  shall  in  any  degree  contribute  to  the 
accomplishment  of  so  important  a  result,  it  will  afford  me 
sincere  satisfaction. 

In  some  sections  of  the  country  most  of  the  public 
lands  have  been  sold,  and  the  registers  and  receivers  have 
little  to  do.  It  is  a  subject  worthy  of  inquiry  whether, 
in  many  cases,  two  or  more  districts  may  not  be  consoli- 
dated, and  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  this  busi- 
ness considerably  reduced.  Indeed,  the  time  will  come, 
when  it  will  be  the  true  policy  of  the  general  government, 


292  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

as  to  some  of  the  states,  to  transfer  to  them,  for  a  reasona- 
ble equivalent,  all  the  refuse  and  unsold  lands,  and  to 
withdraw  the  machinery  of  the  federal  land  offices  alto- 
gether. All  who  take  a  comprehensive  view  of  our  fede- 
ral system,  and  believe  that  one  of  its  greatest  excellen- 
cies consists  in  interfering  as  little  as  possible  with  the 
internal  concerns  of  the  states,  look  forward  with  great 
interest  to  this  result. 

A  modification  of  the  existing  laws  in  respect  to  the 
prices  of  the  public  lands,  might  also  have  a  favorable 
influence  on  the  legislation  of  Congress,  in  relation  to 
another  branch  of  the  subject.  Many  who  have  not  the 
ability  to  buy  at  present  prices,  settle  on  those  lands, 
with  the  hope  of  acquiring  from  their  cultivation  the 
means  of  purchasing  under  pre-emption  laws,  from  time 
to  time  passed  by  Congress.  For  this  encroachment  ou 
the  rights  of  the  United  States,  they  excuse  themselves 
under  the  plea  of  their  own  necessities;  the  fact  that  they 
dispossess  nobody,  and  only  enter  upon  the  waste  domain  ; 
that  they  give  additional  value  to  the  public  lands  in  their 
vicinity,  and  their  intention  ultimately  to  pay  the  govern- 
ment price.  So  much  weight  has  from  time  to  time  been 
attached  to  these  considerations,  that  Congress  hare  passed 
laws  giving  actual  settlers  on  the  public  lands  a  rignt  of 
pre-emption  to  the  tracts  occupied  by  them,  at  the  mini- 
mum price. 

These  laws  have  in  all  instances  been  retrospective  in 
their  operations;  but  in  a  few  years  after  their  passage, 
crowds  of  new  settlers  have  been  found  on  the  public 
lands,  for  similar  reasons,  and  under  like  expectations, 
who  have  been  indulged  with  the  same  privilege.  This 
course  of  legislation  tends  to  impair  public  respect  for  the 
laws  of  the  country.  Either  the  laws  to  prevent  intrusion 
upon  the  public  lands  should  be  executed,  or,  if  that 
should  be  impracticable  or  inexpedient,  they  should  be 
modified  or  repealed.  If  the  public  lands  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  open  to  be  occupied  by  any,  they  should,  by 
law,  be  thrown  open  to  all. 

That  which  is  intended,  in  all  instances,  to  be  legal- 
ized, should  at  once  be  made  legal,  that  those  who  are 
disposed  to  conform  to  the  laws,  may  enjoy  at  least  equal 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  293 

privileges  with  those  who  are  not.  But  it  is  not  believed 
to  be  the  disposition  of  Congress  to  open  the  public  lands 
to  occupancy  without  regular  entries  and  payment  of  the 
government  price,  as  such  a  course  must  tend  to  worse 
evils  than  the  credit  system,  which  it  was  found  necessary 
to  abolish. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  and 
sound  policy  to  remove,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  causes 
which  produce  i.?*msions  upon  the  public  lands,  and  then 
take  efficient  steps  to  prevent  them  in  future.  Would 
any  single  measure  be  so  effective  in  removing  all  plausi- 
ble grounds  for  these  intrusions  as  the  graduation  of  price 
already  suggested  1  A  short  period  of  industry  and  eco- 
nomy in  any  part  of  our  country  would  enable  the  poor- 
est citizen  to  accumulate  the  means  to  buy  him  a  home 
at  the  lowest  prices,  and  leave  him  without  apology  for 
settling  on  lands  not  his  own.  If  he  did  not,  under  such 
circumstances,  he  would  enlist  no  sympathy  in  his  favor  ; 
and  the  laws  would  be  readily  executed  without  doing 
violence  to  public  opinion. 

A  large  portion  of  our  citizens  have  seated  themselves 
on  the  public  lands,  without  authority,  since  the  passage 
of  the  last  pre-emption  law,  and  now  ask  the  enactment 
of  another,  to  enable  them  to  retain  the  lands  occu- 
pied, upon  payment  of  the  minimum  government  price. 
They  ask  that  which  has  been  repeatedly  granted  before. 
If  the  future  may  be  judged  of  by  the  past,  little  harm  can 
be  done  to  the  interests  of  the  treasury  by  yielding  to 
their  request.  Upon  a  critical  examination,  it  is  found 
that  the  lands  sold  at  the  public  sales  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  cash  payments  in  1820,  have  produced,  on  an  av- 
erage, the  nett  revenue  of  only  six  cents  an  acre  more 
than  the  minimum  government  price.  There  is  no  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  future  sales  will  be  more  productive. 
The  government,  therefore,  has  no  adequate  pecuniary 
interest  to  induce  it  to  drive  those  people  from  the  lands 
they  occupy,  for  the  purpose  of  selling  them  to  others. 

Entertaining  these  views,  I  recommend  the  passage  of 

a  pre-emption  law  for  their  benefit,  in  connection  with 

the  preparatory  steps  towards  the  graduation  of  the  price 

of  the  public  lands,  and  farther  and  more  effectual  pro- 

25* 


394  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

visions  to  prevent  intrusions  hereafter.  Indulgence  to 
those  who  have  settled  on  these  lands  with  expectations 
that  past  legislation  would  be  made  a  rule  for  the  future, 
and  at  the  same  time  removing  the  most  plausible  ground 
on  which  intrusions  are  excused,  and  adopting  more  effi- 
cient means  to  prevent  them  hereafter,  appears  to  me 
the  most  judicious  disposition  which  can  be  made  of  this 
difficult  subject. 

The  limitations  and  restrictions  to  guard  against  abuses 
in  the  execution  of  the  pre-emption  law,  will  necessarily 
attract  the  attention  of  Congress ;  but  under  no  circum- 
stances is  it  considered  expedient  to  authorize  floating 
claims  in  any  shape.  They  have  been  heretofore,  and 
doubtless  would  be  hereafter,  most  prolific  sources  of 
fraud  and  oppresson,  and  instead  of  operating  to  confer 
the  favor  of  the  government  on  industrious  settlers,  are 
often  used  only  to  minister  to  a  spirit  of  cupidity  at  the 
expense  of  the  most  meritorious  of  that  class. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  secretary  of  war  will 
bring  to  your  view  the  state  of  the  army,  and  all  the  va- 
rious subjects  confided  to  the  superintendence  of  that 
officer. 

The  principal  part  of  the  army  has  been  concentrated 
in  Florida,  with  a  view  and  in  the  expectation  of  bring- 
ing the  war  in  that  territory  to  a  speedy  close.  The  ne- 
cessity of  stripping  the  posts  on  the  maritime  and  inland 
frontiers,  of  their  entire  garrisons,  for  the  purpose  of  as- 
sembling in  the  field  an  army  of  less  than  four  thousand 
men,  would  seem  to  indicate  the  necessity  of  increasing 
our  regular  forces ;  and  the  superior  efficiency  as  well 
as  greatly  diminished  expense  of  that  description  of 
troops,  recommend  this  measure  as  one  of  economy,  as* 
well  as  of  expediency.  I  refer  to  the  report  for  the  rea- 
sons which  have  induced  the  secretary  of  war  to  urge 
the  re-organization  and  enlargement  of  the  staff  of  the 
army,  and  of  the  ordnance  corps,  in  which  I  fully  concur. 

It  is  not,  however,  compatible  with  the  interest  of  the 
people  to  maintain,  in  time  of  peace,  a  regular  force  ad- 
equate to  the  defence  of  our  extensive  frontiers.  In  pe- 
riods of  danger  and  alarm,  we  must  rely  principally  upon 
a  well-organized  militia ;  and  some  general  arrangement 


VAN    BUUEN'S    FIRST    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  295 

that  will  render  this  description  of  force  more  efficient, 
has  long  been  a  subject  of  anxious  solicitude.  It  was 
recommended  to  the  first  Congress  by  General  Washing- 
ton, and  has  since  been  frequently  brought  to  your 
notice,  and  recently  its  importance  strongly  urged  by  my 
immediate  predecessor. 

The  provision  in  the  constitution  tint  renders  it  ne- 
cessary to  adopt  a  uniform  system  of  organization  for 
the  militia  throughout  the  United  States,  presents  an  in- 
surmountable obstacle  to  an  efficient  arrangement  by  the 
classification  heretofore  proposed,  and  I  invite  your  atten- 
tion to  the  plan  which  will  be  submitted  by  the  secretary 
of  war,  for  the  organization  of  the  volunteer  corps,  and 
the  instruction  of  militia  officers,  as  more  simple  and 
practicable,  if  not  equally  advantageous,  as  a  general  ar- 
rangement of  the  whole  militia  of  the  United  States. 

A  moderate  increase  of  the  corps  both  of  military  and 
topographical  engineers,  has  been  more  than  once  recom- 
mended by  my  predecessor,  and  my  conviction  of  the  pro- 
priety, not  to  say  necessity  of  the  measure,  in  order  to 
enable  them  to  perform  the  various  and  important  duties 
imposed  upon  them,  induces  me  to  repeat  the  recommen- 
dation. 

The  Military  Academy  continues  to  answer  all  the  pur- 
poses of  its  establishment,  and  not  only  furnishes  well- 
educated  officers  of  the  army,  but  serves  to  diffuse  through- 
out the  mass  of  our  citizens,  individuals  possessed  of  mi- 
litary knowledge,  and  the  scientific  attainments  of  civil 
and  military  engineering.  At  present,  the  cadet  is  bound, 
with  the  consent  of  his  parents  or  guardians,  to  remain 
in  service  five  years  from  the  period  of  his  enlistment, 
unless  sooner  discharged,  thus  exacting  only  one  year's 
service  in  the  army  after  his  education  is  completed. 
This  does  not  appear  to  me  sufficient.  Government  ought 
(o  command  for  a  longer  period  the  services  of  those  who 
are  educated  at  the  public  expense ;  and  I  recommend 
that  the  time  of  enlistment  be  extended  to  seven  years, 
and  the  terms  of  the  engagement  strictly  enforced. 

The  creation  of  a  national  foundry  for  cannon,  to  be 
common  to  the  service  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  has  been  heretofore  recommended,  and  ap- 


296  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

pears  to  be  required  in  order  to  place  our  ordnance  on 
an  equal  footing  with  that  of  other  countries,  and  to  ena- 
ble that  branch  of  the  service  to  control  the  prices  of 
those  articles,  and  graduate  the  supplies  to  the  wants  of 
the  government,  as  well  as  to  regulate  their  quality  and 
insure  their  uniformity. 

The  same  reasons  induce  me  to  recommend  the  erec- 
tion of  a  manufactory  of  gunpowder,  to  be  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  ordnance  office.  The  establishment  of  a 
manufactory  of  small  arms  west  of  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains, upon  the  plan  proposed  by  the  secretary  of  war, 
will  contribute  to  extend  throughout  that  country  the 
improvements  which  exist  in  establishments  of  a  similar 
description  in  the  Atlantic  states,  and  tend  to  a  much 
more  economical  distribution  of  the  armament  required  in 
the  western  portion  of  our  Union. 

The  system  of  removing  the  Indians  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, commenced  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1804,  has  been 
steadily  persevered  in  by  every  succeeding  President,  and 
may  be  considered  the  settled  policy  of  the  country.  Un- 
connected at  first  with  any  well-defined  system  for  their 
improvement,  the  inducements  held  out  to  the  Indians 
were  confined  to  the  greater  abundance  of  game  to  be 
found  in  the  west ;  but  when  the  beneficial  effects  of  their 
removal  were  made  apparent,  a  more  philanthropic  and 
enlightened  policy  was  adopted,  in  purchasing  their  lands 
east  of  the  Mississippi.  Liberal  prices  were  given,  and 
provisions  inserted  in  all  the  treaties  with  them  for  the 
implication  of  the  funds  they  received  in  exchange,  to  such 
purposes  as  were  best  calculated  to  promote  their  present 
welfare,  and  advance  their  future  civilization.  These 
measures  have  been  attended  thus  far  with  the  happiest 
results. 

It  will  be  seen,  by  referring  to  the  report  of  the  com- 
missioner of  Indian  affairs,  that  the  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations of  the  friends  and  promoters  of  this  system 
have  been  realized.  The  Choctaws,  Cherokees,  and 
other  tribes  that  first  emigrated  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
have,  for  the  most  part,  abandoned  the  hunter  state,  and 
become  cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  improvement  of 
their  condition  has  been  rapid,  and  it  is  believed  that 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          297 

they  are  now  fitted  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  simple 
form  of  government,  which  has  been  submitted  to  them 
and  received  their  sanction;  and  I  cannot  too  strongly 
urge  this  subject  upon  the  attention  of  Congress. 

Stipulations  have  been  made  with  all  the  Indian  tribes 
to  remove  them  beyond  the  Mississippi,  except  with  the 
band  of  the  Wyandotts,  the  Six  Nations,  in  New  York, 
the  Menomonees,  Mandans,  and  Stockbridges,  in  Wis- 
consin, and  Miamies,  in  Indiana.  With  all  but  the 
Menomonees,  it  is  expected  that  arrangements  for  their 
emigration  will  be  completed  the  present  year.  The 
resistance  which  has  been  opposed  to  their  removal  by- 
some  tribes,  even  after  treaties  had  been  made  with  them 
to  that  effect,  has  arisen  from  various  causes,  operating 
differently  on  each  of  them. 

In  most  instances  they  have  been  instigated  to  resist- 
ance by  persons  to  whom  the  trade  with  them  and  the 
acquisition  of  their  annuities  were  important;  and  in 
some  by  the  personal  influence  of  interested  chiefs. 
These  obstacles  must  be  overcome ;  for  the  government 
cannot  relinquish  the  execution  of  this  policy  with- 
out sacrificing  important  interests,  and  abandoning  the 
tribes  remaining  east  of  the  Mississippi  to  certain  de- 
struction. 

The  decrease  in  numbers  of  the  tribes  within  the  limits 
of  the  states  and  territories  has  been  most  rapid.  If  they 
be  removed,  they  can  be  protected  from  those  associa- 
tions and  evil  practices  which  exert  so  pernicious  and 
destructive  an  influence  over  their  destinies.  They  can 
be  induced  to  labor,  and  to  acquire  property,  and  its 
acquisition  will  inspire  them  with  a  feeling  of  indepen- 
dence. Their  minds  can  be  cultivated,  and  they  can  be 
taught  the  value  of  salutary  and  uniform  laws,  and  be 
made  sensible  of  the  blessings  of  free  government,  and 
capable  of  enjoying  its  advantages. 

In  the  possession  of  property,  knowledge,  and  a  good 
government,  free  to  give  what  direction  they  please  to 
their  labor,  and  sharers  in  the  legislation  by  which  their 
persons  and  the  profits  of  their  industry  are  to  be  pro- 
tected and  secured,  they  will  have  an  ever  present  con- 
viction of  the  importance  of  union,  of  peace  among 


29S  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

themselves,  and  of  the  preservation  of  amicable  relations 
with  us. 

The  interests  of  the  United  States  would  also  be 
greatly  promoted  by  freeing  the  relations  between  the 
general  and  state  governments,  from  what  has  proved  a 
most  embarrassing  incumbrance,  by  a  satisfactory  adjust- 
ment of  conflicting  titles  to  lands,  caused  by  the  occu- 
pation of  the  Indians,  and  by  causing  the  resources  of 
the  whole  country  to  be  developed  by  the  power  of  the 
state  and  general  governments,  and  improved  by  the 
enterprise  of  a  white  population. 

Intimately  connected  with  this  subject  is  the  obligation 
of  the  government  to  fulfil  its  treaty  stipulations,  and  to 
protect  the  Indians  thus  assembled  "  at  their  new  resi- 
dence from  all  interruptions  and  disturbances  from  any 
other  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians,  or  from  any  other 
person  or  persons  whatsoever,"  and  the  equally  solemn 
obligation  to  guard  from  Indian  hostilities  its  own  border 
settlements  stretching  along  a  line  of  more  than  one 
thousand  miles.  To  enable  the  government  to  redeem 
their  pledge  to  the  Indians,  and  to  afford  adequate  pro- 
tection to  its  own  citizens,  will  require  the  continual 
presence  of  a  considerable  regular  force  on  the  frontiers, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  chain  of  permanent  posts. 
Examinations  of  the  country  are  now  making,  with  a 
view  to  decide  on  the  most  suitable  points  for  the  erection 
of  fortresses  and  other  works  of  defence,  the  results  of 
which  will  be  presented  to  you  by  the  secretary  of  war 
at  an  early  day,  together  with  a  plan  for  the  effectual  pro- 
tection of  friendly  Indians,  and  the  permanent  defence 
of  the  frontier  states. 

By  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  navy,  herewith 
communicated,  it  appears  that  unremitted  exertions  have 
been  made  at  the  different  navy-yards,  to  carry  into  effect 
all  authorized  measures  for  the  extension  and  employ- 
ment of  our  naval  force.  The  launching  and  prepa- 
ration of  the  ship  of  the  line  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
complete  repairs  of  the  ships  of  the  line  Ohio,  Delaware, 
and  Columbus,  may  be  noticed,  as  forming  a  respectable 
addition  to  this  important  arm  of  our  national  defence. 
Our  commerce  and  navigation  have  received  increased 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          299 

aid  and  protection  during  the  present  year.  Our  squad- 
rons in  the  Pacific  and  on  the  Brazilian  station  have 
been  much  increased,  and  that  in  the  Mediterranean, 
although  small,  is  adequate  to  the  present  wants  of  our 
commerce  in  that  sea.  Additions  have  been  made  to 
our  squadron  on  the  West  India  station,  where  the  large 
force  under  Commodore  Dallas  has  been  most  actively 
and  efficiently  employed  in  protecting  our  commerce,  in 
preventing  the  importation  of  slaves,  and  in  co-operating 
with  the  officers  of  the  army  in  carrying  on  the  war  in 
Florida. 

The  satisfactory  condition  of  our  naval  force  abroad, 
leaves  at  our  disposal  the  means  of  conveniently  provid- 
ing for  a  home  squadron,  for  the  protection  of  commerce 
upon  our  extensive  coast.  The  amount  of  appropriations 
required  for  such  a  squadron  will  be  found  in  the  general 
estimates  for  the  naval  service,  for  the  year  1838. 

The  naval  officers  engaged  upon  our  coast  survey, 
have  rendered  important  service  to  our  navigation.  The 
discovery  of  a  new  channel  into  the  harbor  of  New 
York,  through  which  our  largest  ships  may  pass  without 
danger,  must  afford  important  commercial  advantages  to 
that  harbor,  and  add  greatly  to  its  value  as  a  naval  station. 
The  accurate  survey  of  Georges'  shoals,  off  the  coast 
of  Massachusetts,  lately  completed,  will  render  compara- 
tively safe,  a  navigation  hitherto  considered  dangerous. 

Considerable  additions  have  been  made  to  the  number 
of  captains,  commanders,  lieutenants,  surgeons  and  as- 
sistant surgeons  in  the  navy.  These  additions  were 
rendered  necessary,  by  the  increased  number  of  vessels 
put  in  commission,  to  answer  the  exigencies  of  our  grow- 
ing commerce. 

Your  attention  is  respectfully  invited  to  the  various 
suggestions  of  the  secretary,  for  the  improvement  of 
the  naval  service. 

The  report  of  the  postmaster-general  exhibits  the  pro- 
gress and  condition  of  the  mail  service.  The  opera- 
tions of  the  post-office  department,  constitutes  one  of 
the  most  active  elements  of  our  national  prosperity,  and 
it  is  gratifying  to  observe  with  what  vigor  they  are  con- 
ducted. The  mail  routes  of  the  United  States  cover  au 


300  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ettent  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-seven  miles,  having  been  in- 
creased about  thirty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and 
three  miles,  within  the  last  two  years. 

The  annual  mail  transportation  on  these  routes  is 
about  36,228,962  miles,  having  been  increased  about 
10,359,476  miles  within  the  same  period.  The  number 
of  post-offices  has  also  been  increased  from  10,770,  to 
12,099,  very  few  of  which  receive  the  mails  less  than 
once  a  week,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  daily.  Con- 
tractors and  post-masters  in  general  are  represented  as 
attending  to  their  duties  with  most  commendable  zeal 
and  fidelity. 

The  revenue  of  the  department  within  the  year  end- 
ing on  the  30th  of  June  last,  was  §4,137,066  59  ;  and 
its  liabilities  accruing  within  the  same  time,  were 
$3,380,847  75.  The  increase  of  revenue  over  that  of 
the  preceding  year,  was  6708,166  41. 

For  many  interesting  details,  I  refer  you  to  the  report 
of  the  postmaster-general,  with  the  accompanying  paper. 
Your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  the  necessity  of 
providing  a  more  safe  and  convenient  building  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  department. 

I  lay  before  Congress  copies  of  reports,  submitted  in 
pursuance  of  a  call  made  by  me  upon  the  heads  of 
departments,  for  such  suggestions  as  their  experience 
might  enable  them  to  make,  as  to  what  further  legislative 
provisions  may  be  advantageously  adopted  to  secure  the 
faithful  application  of  public  money  to  the  objects  for 
which  they  are  appropriated;  to  prevent  their  misappli- 
cation or  embezzlement  by  those  intrusted  with  the 
expenditure  of  them ;  and  generally  to  increase  the 
security  of  the  government  against  losses  in  their  dis- 
bursement. It  is  needless  to  dilate  on  the  importance 
of  providing  such  new  safeguards  as  are  within  the 
power  of  legislation  to  promote  these  ends ;  and  I  have 
little  to  add  to  the  recommendations  submitted  in  the 
accompanying  papers. 

By  law,  the  terms  of  service  of  our  most  important 
collecting  and  disbursing  officers  in  the  civil  departments, 
ore  limited  to  four  years,  and  when  re-appointed,  their 


BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  301 

bonds  are  required  to  be  renewed.  The  safety  of  the 
public  is  much  increased  by  this  feature  of  the  law,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  its  application  to  all  officers 
intrusted  with  the  collection  or  disbursement  of  the  pub- 
lic money,  whatever  may  be  the  tenure  of  their  offices; 
would  be  equally  beneficial.  I  therefore  recommend,  in 
addition  to  such  of  the  suggestions  presented  by  the  heads 
of  department  as  you  may  think  useful,  a  general  provi- 
sion that  all  officers  of  the  army  or  navy,  or  in  the  civil 
department,  intrusted  with  the  receipt  or  payment  of  the 
public  money,  and  whose  term  of  service  is  either  un- 
limited or  for  a  longer  time  than  four  years,  be  required 
to  give  bonds,  with  good  and  sufficient  securities,  at  the 
expiration  of  every  such  period. 

A  change  in  the  period  of  terminating  the  fiscal  year, 
from  the  first  of  October  to  the  first  of  April,  has  been 
frequently  recommended,  and  appears  to  be  desirable. 

The  distressing  casualities  in  steamboats,  which  have 
BO  frequently  happened,  during  the  year,  seem  to  evince 
the  necessity  of  attempting  to  prevent  them  by  means  of 
severe  provisions  connected  with  their  csistom-house 
papers.  This  subject  was  submitted  to  the  attention 
of  Congress  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  in  his  last 
annual  report,  and  will  be  again  noticed  at  the  present 
session,  with  additional  details.  It  will  doubtless  receive 
that  early  and  careful  consideration  which  its  pressing 
importance  appears  to  require. 

Your  attention  has  heretofore  been  frequently  called 
to  the  affairs  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  I  should 
not  again  ask  it,  did  not  their  entire  dependence  on  Con- 
gress give  them  a  constant  claim  upon  its  notice.  Sep- 
arated by  the  constitution  from  the  rest  of  the  Union, 
limited  in  extent,  and  aided  by  no  legislature  of  its  own, 
it  would  seem  to  be  a  spot  where  a  wise  and  uniform  sys- 
tem of  local  government  might  have  been  easily  adopted. 

This  district  however,  unfortunately,  has  been  left  to 
linger  behind  the  rest  of  the  Union  ;  its  codes,  civil  and 
criminal,  are  not  only  very  defective,  but  full  of  obsolete 
or  inconvenient  provisions ;  being  formed  of  portions  of 
two  states,  discrepancies  in  the  laws  prevail  in  different 
parts  of  the  territory,  small  as  it  is ;  and  although  it  wa* 
26 


302  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

selected  as  the  seat  of  the  general  government,  the  site 
of  its  public  edifices,  the  depository  of  its  archives,  and 
the  residence  of  officers  intrusted  with  large  amounts  of 
public  property,  and  the  management  of  public  business, 
yet  it  has  never  been  subjected  to,  or  received,  that  spe- 
cial and  comprehensive  legislation  which  these  circum- 
stances peculiarly  demand. 

I  am  well  aware  of  the  various  subjects  of  greater 
magnitude  and  immediate  interest,  that  press  themselves 
on  the  consideration  of  Congress  ;  but  I  believe  there  is 
no  one  that  appeals  more  directly  to  its  justice,  than  a 
liberal  and  even  generous  attention  to  the  interests  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  a  thorough  and  careful  revi- 
sion of  its  local  government. 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS, 

SEPTEMBER    17,    1796. 


un:l  F,  Hoio-Citizcns  : 

Tire  period  for  a  nc\v  election  of  a  citizen  to  adminis- 
ter the  executive  government  of  the  United  States  being 
not  far  distant,  and  the  time  actually  arrived  when  your 
thoughts  must  be  employed  in  designating  the  person  who 
is  to  be  clothed  with  that  important  trust,  it  appears  to 
me  proper,  especially  as  it  may  conduce  to  a  more  dis- 
tinct expression  of  the  public  voice  that  I  should  now 
apprize  you  of  the  resolution  I  have  formed,  to  decline 
brim.;  considered  among  the  number  oftho.se  out  of  whom 
tho  choice  is  to  be  made. 

I  beg  you  at  the  same  time  to  do  me  the  justice  to  bo 
assured,  that  this  resolution  has  not  been  taken  without  a 
strict  regard  to  all  the  considerations  appertaining  to  the 
relation  which  binds  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his  country  ;  and 
th  it  in  futhdrawtng  the  tender  of  service,  which  silence 
in  my  situation  might  imply,  I  am  influenced  by  no  di- 
minution of  zeal  for  your  future  interest  ;  no  deficiency 
of  grateful  respect  for  your  past  kindness;  but  am  sup- 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  303 

ported  by  a  full  conviction  that  the  step  is  compatible 
with  both. 

The  acceptance  of,  and  continuance  hitherto  in  the 
office  to  which  your  suffrages  have  twice  called  me,  have 
been  a  uniform  sacrifice  of  inclination  to  the  opinion  of 
duty,  and  to  a  deference  for  what  appeared  to  be  your 
desire.  I  constantly  hoped  that  it  would  have  been  much 
earlier  in  my  power,  consistently  with  motives  which  I 
was  not  at  liberty  to  disregard,  to  return  to  that  retire- 
ment from  which  I  had  been  reluctantly  drawn.  The 
strength  of  my  inclination  to  do  this,  previous  to  the  last 
election,  had  even  led  to  the  preparation  of  an  address  to 
declare  it  to  you ;  but  mature  reflection  on  the  then  per- 
plexed and  critical  posture  of  affairs  with  foreign  nations, 
and  the  unanimous  advice  of  persons  entitled  to  my  con- 
fidence, impelled  me  to  abandon  the  idea.  I  rejoice  that 
the  state  of  your  concerns,  external  as  well  as  internal, 
no  longer  renders  the  pursuit  of  inclination  incompatible 
with  the  sentiment  of  duty  or  propriety  ;  and  am  per- 
suaded, whatever  partiality  may  be  retained  for  my  scr-- 
vices,  that  in  the  present  circumstances  of  our  country  you 
will  not  disapprove  of  my  determination  to  retire. 

The  impressions  with  which  I  first  undertook  the  ar- 
duous trust,  were  explained  on  the  proper  occasion.  In 
the  discharge  of  this  trust,  I  will  only  say  that  I  have, 
with  good  intentions,  contributed  towards  the  organiza- 
tion and  administration  of  the  government  the  best  exer- 
tions of  which  a  very  fallible  judgment  was  capable.  Not 
unconscious,  in  the  outset,  of  the  inferiority  of  my  quali- 
fications, experience  in  my  own  eyes,  perhaps  still  more 
in  the  eyes  of  others,  has  strengthened  the  motives  to  dif- 
fidence of  myself;  and,  every  day  the  increasing  weight 
of  years  admonishes  me  more  and  more,  that  the  shade 
of  retirement  is  as  necessary  to  me  as  it  will  be  welcome. 
Satisfied  that  if  any  circumstances  have  given  peculiar 
value  to  my  services,  they  were  temporary,  I  have  the 
consolation  to  believe,  that  while  choice  and  prudence 
invite  me  to  quit  the  political  scene,  patriotism  does  not 
forbid  it. 

In  looking  forward  to  the  moment  which  is  to  termi- 
nate the  career  of  my  political  life,  my  feelings  do  not 


304  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

permit  me  to  suspend  the  deep  acknowledgment  of  that 
debt  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  to  my  beloved  country  for 
the  many  honors  it  has  conferred  upon  me  ;  still  more  for 
the  steadfast  confidence  with  which  it  has  supported  me ; 
and  for  the  opportunities  I  have  thence  enjoyed  of  mani- 
festing my  inviolable  attachment,  by  services  faithful  and 
persevering,  though  in  usefulness  unequal  to  my  zeal. 
If  benefits  have  resulted  to  our  country  from  these  ser- 
vices, let  it  always  be  remembered  to  your  praise,  and  as 
instructive  example  in  our  annals,  that  under  circum- 
stances in  which  the  passions,  agitated  in  every  direction, 
were  liable  to  mislead — amidst  appearances  sometimes 
dubious — vicissitudes  of  fortunes  often  discouraging — in 
situations  in  which  not  unfrequently  want  of  success  has 
countenanced  the  spirit  of  criticism — the  constancy  of 
your  support  was  the  essential  prop  of  the  efforts,  and  a 
guarantee  of  the  plans,  by  which  they  were  effected.  Pro- 
foundly penetrated  with  this  idea,  I  shall  carry  it  with  me 
to  my  grave,  as  a  strong  incitement  to  unceasing  wishes, 
that  Heaven  may  continue  to  you  the  choicest  tokens  of 
its  beneficence — that  your  union  and  brotherly  affection 
may  be  perpetual — that  the  free  constitution  which  is  the 
work  of  your  hands  may  be  sacredly  maintained — that  its 
administration  in  every  department  may  be  stamped  with 
wisdom  and  virtue — that,  in  fine,  the  happiness  of  the 
people  of  these  states,  under  the  auspices  of  liberty,  may 
be  made  complete,  by  so  careful  a  preservation,  and  so 
prudent  a  use  of  this  blessing  as  will  acquire  to  them  the 
glory  of  recommending  it  to  the  applause,  the  affection, 
and  adoption  of  every  nation  which  is  yet  a  stranger  to  it. 
Here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  stop.  But  a  solicitude  for 
your  welfare,  which  cannot  end  but  with  my  life,  and  the 
apprehension  of  danger,  natural  to  that  solicitude,  urge 
me,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  to  offer  to  your  so- 
lemn contemplation,  and  to  recommend  to  your  frequent 
review,  some  sentiments,  which  are  the  result  of  much 
reflection,  of  no  inconsiderable  observation,  and  which 
appear  to  me  all-important  to* the  permanency  of  your  fe- 
licity as  a  people.  These  will  be  offered  to  you  with  the 
more  freedom,  as  you  can  only  see  in  them  the  disin- 
terested warnings  of  a  parting  friend,  who  can  possibly 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  305 

have  no  personal  motive  to  bias  his  counsel.  Nor  can  I 
forget,  as  an  encouragement  to  it,  your  indulgent  recep- 
tion of  my  sentiments  on  a  former  and  not  dissimilar 
occasion. 

Interwoven  as  is  the  love  of  liberty  with  every  liga- 
ment of  our  hearts,  no  recommendation  of  mine  is  neces- 
sary to  fortify  or  confirm  the  attachment. 

The  unity  of  government,  which  constitutes  you  one 
people,  is  also  now  dear  to  you.  It  is  justly  so ;  for  it  is 
a  main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence  ; 
the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home  ;  your  peace 
abroad ;  of  your  safety  ;  of  your  prosperity ;  of  that  very 
liberty  which  you  so  highly  prize.  But  as  it  is  easy  to 
foresee,  that  from  different  causes  and  from  different 
quarters,  much  pains  will  be  taken,  many  artifices  em- 
ployed, to  weaken  in  your  minds  the  conviction  of  this 
truth  ;  as  this  is  the  point  in  your  political  fortress  against 
which  the  batteries  of  internal  and  external  enemies  will 
be  most  constantly  and  actively  (though  often  covertly 
and  insidiously)  directed  ;  it  is  of  infinite  moment,  that 
you  should  properly  estimate  the  immense  value  of  your 
national  union  to  your  collective  and  individual  happi- 
ness ;  that  you  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and 
immoveable  attachment  to  it ;  accustoming  yourselves  to 
think  and  to  speak  of  it  as  a  palladium  of  your  political 
safety  and  prosperity ;  watching  for  its  preservation  with 
jealous  anxiety ;  discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest 
even  a  suspicion  that-itcan  in  any  event  be  abandoned; 
and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  every 
attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the 
rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  togo 
ther  the  various  parts» 

For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of  sympathy  and 
interest.  Citizens  by  birth  or  choice,  of  a  common 
eountry,  that  country  has  a  right  to  concentrate  your  af- 
fections. The  name  of  AMERICAN,  which  belongs  to  you 
in  your  national  capacity,  must  always  exalt  the  just  pride 
of  patriotism,  more  than  any  appellation  derived  from 
local  discriminations.  With  slight  shades  of  difference 
you  have  the  same  religion,  manners,  habits,  and  political 
principle.  You  have,  in  a  common  cause,  fought  and 
26* 


306  TBE    TBUE    AMERICAIT. 

triumphed  together;  the  independence  and  liberty  you 
possess,  are  the  work  of  joint  councils  and  joint  efforts 
— of  common  dangers,  sufferings,  aiid  success. 

But  these  considerations,  however  powerfully  they  ad- 
dress themselves  to  your  sensibility,  are  greatly  outweighed 
by  those  which  apply  more  immediately  to  your  interest. 
Here  every  portion  of  our  country  finds  the  most  com- 
'nanding  motives  for  carefully  guarding  and  preserving 
the  union  of  the  whole. 

The  north,  in  an  unrestrained  intercourse  with  the 
youth,  protected  by  the  equal  laws  of  a  common  govern- 
ment, finds  in  the  productions  of  the  latter,  great  addi- 
tional resources  of  maritime  and  commercial  enterprise, 
and  precious  materials  of  manufacturing  industry.  The 
south,  in  the  same  intercourse,  benefiting  by  the  samo 
agency  of  the  north,  sees  its  agriculture  grow  and  its 
commerce  expand.  Turning  partly  into  its  own  channels 
the  seamen  of  the  north,  it  finds  its  particular  navigation 
invigorated — and  while  it  contributes  in  different  ways  to- 
nourish  and  increase  the  general  mass  of  the  national  na- 
vigation, it  looks  forward  to  the  protection  of  a  maritime 
strength,  to  which  itself  is  unequally  adapted.  The  cast, 
in  like  intercourse  with  the  west,  already  finds  in  the  pro- 
gressive improvement  of  interior  communications  by  land 
and  water,  will  more  and  more  find  a  valuable  vent  for 
the  commodities  which  it  brings  from  abroad,  or  manu- 
factures at  home.  The  west  derives  from  the  east  sup- 
plies requisite  to  its  growth  and  comfort — and  what  is 
perhaps  of  still  greater  consequence,  it  must  of  necessity 
owe  the  secure  enjoyment  of  indispensable  outlets  for  its 
own  productions,  to  the  weight,  influence,  and  the  future 
maritime  strength  of  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Union,  di- 
rected by  an  indissoluble  community  of  interest  as  one 
mtion.  Any  other  tenure  by  which  the  west  can  hold 
this  essential  advantage,  whether  derived  from  its  own 
separate  strength,  or  from  an  apostate  and  unnatural  con- 
nection with  any  foreign  power,  must  be  intrinsically 
precarious. 

While,  then,  every  part  of  our  country  thus  feels  an 
immediate  and  particular  interest  in  union,  all  the  parts 
combined  cannot  fail  to  find  in  the  united  mass  of  meauu 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  307 

and  efforts,  greater  strength,  greater  resource,  propor- 
tionably  greater  security  from  external  danger,  a  less 
frequent  interruption  of  their  peace  by  foreign  nations ; 
and  what  is  of  inestimable  value,  they  must  derive  from 
union  an  exemption  from  those  broils  and  wars  between 
themselves,  which  so  frequently  afflict  neighboring  coun- 
tries, not  tied  together  by  the  same  government,  which 
their  own  rivalships  alone- wouM  be  sufficient  to  produce ', 
bu-t  which  opposite  foreign  alliances,  attachments,  and 
intrigues,  would  stimulate  and  embitter.  Hence,  like- 
wise, they  will  avoid  the  necessity  of  those  overgrown 
military  establishments,  which  under  any  form  of  govern- 
ment are  inauspicious  to  liberty,  and  which  are  to  be 
regarded  as  particularly  hostile  to  republican  liberty. 
In  this  sense  it  is,  that  your  union  ought  to  be  considered 
as  a  main  prop  of  your  liberty,  and  that  the  love  of  the 
one  ought  to  endear  to  you  the  preservation  of  the  other. 

These  considerations  speak  a  persuasive  language  to 
every  reflecting  and  virtuous  mind,  and  exhibit  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  union  as  a  primary  object  of  patriotic 
desire.  Is  there  a  doubt  whether  a  common  government 
can  embrace  so  large  a  sphere  1  Let  experience  solve  it. 
To  listen  to  mere  speculation  in  such  a  case  were  crimi- 
nal. We  are  authorized  to  hope  that  a  proper  organiza- 
tion of  the  whole,  with  the  auxiliary  agency  of  govern- 
ments for  the  respective  subdivisions,  will  afford  a  happy 
issue  of  the  experiment.  It  is  well  worth  a  fair  and  full 
experiment.  With  such  powerful  and  obvious  motives  to 
union,  affecting  all  parts  of  our  country,  while  experience 
shall  not  have  demonstrated  its  impracticability,  there  will 
always  be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism  of  those  who 
in  any  quarter  may  endeavor  to  weaken  its  bands. 

In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may  disturb  oar 
union,  it  occurs  as  matter  of  serious  concern  that  any 
ground  should  have  been  furnished  for  characterizing 
parties,  by  geographical  discriminations — Northern  and 
Southern;  Atlantic  and  Western?  whence  designing 
men  may  endeavor  to  excite  a  belief  that  there  is  a  real 
difference  of  local  interests  and  views.  One  of  the  expe- 
dients of  party  to  acquire  influence  within  particular 
districts,  is  to  misrepresent  the  opinions  and  aims  of  othe* 


309  THE    TRUE    AMERICA  W 

districts.  You  cannot  shield  yourselves  too  much  against 
the  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  which  epring  from  these 
misrepresentations;  they  tend  to  render  alien  to  each 
other  those  who  ought  to  be  bound  together  by  fraternal 
affection.  The  inhabitants  of  our  western  country  have 
lately  had  a  useful  lesson  on  this  head.  They  have  seen 
in  the  negotiation  by  the  executive,  and  in  the  unanimous 
ratification  by  the  senate  of  the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  in 
the  universal  satisfaction  at  that  event  throughout  the 
United  States,  a  decisive  proof  how  unfounded  were  the 
suspicions  propagated  among  them  of  a  policy  in  the 
general  government,  and  in  the  Atlantic  states,  unfriendly 
to  their  interests  in  regard  to  the  Mississippi.  They 
have  been  witnesses  to  the  formation  of  two  treaties,  that 
with  Great  Britain,  and  that  with  Spain,  which  secure  to 
them  every  thing  they  could  desire,  in  respect  to  our  for- 
eign relations,  toward  confirming  their  prosperity.  Will 
it  not  be  their  wisdom  to  rely  for  the  preservation  of  these 
advantages  on  the  union  by  which  they  were  procured  ? 
Will  they  not  henceforth  be  deaf  to  those  advisers,  if  such 
there  are,  who  would  sever  them  from  their  brethren,  and 
connect  them  with  aliens? 

To  the  efficacy  and  permanency  of  your  union,  a 
government  for  the  whole  is  indispensable.  No  alliances, 
however  strict  between  the  parts,  cun  be  an  adequate 
substitute  ;  they  must  inevitably  experience  the  infrac- 
tions and  interruptions  which  alliances  in  all  times  have 
experienced.  Sensible  of  this  momentous  truth,  you 
have  improved  upon  your  first  essay,  by  the  adoption  of 
a  constitution  of  government  better  calculated  than  your 
former  for  an  intimate  union,  and  for  the  efficacious 
management  of  your  common  concern.  This  govern- 
ment, the  offspring  of  your  own  choice,  uninfluenced  and 
nnawed ;  adopted  upon  full  investigation  and  mature 
deliberation;  completely  free  in  its  principles;  in  the 
distribution  of  its  powers  uniting  security  with  energy, 
and  containing  within  itself  provision  for  its  own  amend- 
ment, has  a  just  claim  to  your  confidence  and  your 
support.  Respect  for -its  authority,  compliance  with  its 
laws,  acquiescence  in  its  measures,  are  duties  enjoined 
by  the  fundamental  maxims  of  true  liberty.  The  basis  of 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  309 

our  political  system  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  make 
and  to  alter  their  constitutions  of  government.  But  the 
constitution  which  at  any  time  exists,  until  changed  by 
an  explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sa- 
credly obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  the  power 
and  the  right  of  the  people  to  establish  government,  pre- 
supposes the  duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  estab- 
lished government. 

All  obstructions  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  all 
combinations  and  associations,  under  whatever  plausible 
character,  with  the  real  design  to  direct,  control,  coun- 
teract, or  awe  the  regular  deliberations  and  action  of  the 
constituted  authorities,  are  destructive  of  this  funda- 
mental principle,  and  of  fatal  tendency.  They  serve  to 
organize  faction  ;  to  give  it  an  artificial  and  extraordinary 
force ;  to  put  in  the  place  of  the  delegated  will  of  the 
nation,  the  will  of  party,  often  a  small,  but  artful  and  en- 
terprising minority  of  the  community  ;  and  according  to 
the  alternate  triumphs  of  different  parties,  to  make  the 
public  administration  the  mirror  of  the  ill-concerted 
and  incongruous  projects  of  faction,  rather  than  the 
organ  of  consistent  and  wholesome  plans,  digested  by 
common  counsels,  and  modified  by  mutual  interests. 

However  combinations  or  associations  of  the  above 
description  may  now  and  then  answer  popular  ends,  they 
are  likely,  in  the  course  of  time  and  things,  to  become 
potent  engines  by  which  cunning,  ambitious,  and  un- 
principled men  will  be  enabled  to  subvert  the  power  of 
the  people,  and  to  usurp  for  themselves  the  reins  of 
government ;  destroying  afterwards  the  very  engines  which 
have  lifted  them  to  unjust  dominion. 

Towards  the  preservation  of  your  government,  and  the 
permanency  of  your  present  happy  state,  it  is  requisite 
not  only  that  you  steadily  discountenance  irregular  oppo- 
sition to  its  acknowledged  authority,  but  also  that  you 
resist  with  care  the  spirit  of  innovation  upon  its  princi- 
ples, however  specious  the  pretext.  One  method  of 
assault  may  be  to  effect  in  the  forms  of  the  constitution 
alterations  which  will  impair  the  energy  of  the  system, 
and  thus  to  undermine  what  cannot  be  directly  over- 
thrown. In  all  the  changes  to  which  you  may  be  invited, 


310  THE    TRUE    AMERICA!*. 

remember  that  time  and  habit  arc  at  least  as  necessary  to 
fix  the  true  character  of  governments,  as  of  other  human 
institutions ;  that  experience  is  the  surest  standard  by 
which  to  test  the  real  tendency  of  the  existing  constitu- 
tions of  a  country ;  that  facility  in  changes,  upon  the 
credit  of  mere  hypothesis  and  opinion,  exposes  to  per- 
petual change,  from  the  endless  variety  of  hypothesis  and 
opinion  ;  and  remember  especially,  that  from  the  efficient 
management  of  your  common  interests,  in  a  country  so 
extensive  as  ours,  a  government  of  as  much  vigor  as  is 
consistent  with  the  perfect  security  of  liberty,  as  indis- 
pensable. Liberty  itself  will  find  in  such  a  government, 
with  powers  properly  distributed  and  adjusted,  its  surest 
guardian.  It  is,  indeed,  little  else  than  a  name,  where 
the  government  is  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  enterprises 
of  faction,  to  confine  each  member  of  society  within  the 
limits  prescribed  by  the  laws,  and  to  maintain  all  in  the 
tsecure  and  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  person 
and  property. 

I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the  danger  of  parties 
in  the  state,  with  particular  reference  to  the  founding  of 
them  upon  geographical  discriminations.  Let  me  now 
take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and  warn  you,  in  the 
most  solemn  manner,  against  the  baneful  effects  of  the 
spirit  of  party  generally. 

This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable  from  our  na- 
ture, having  its  root  in  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human 
mind.  It  exists  under  different  shapes  in  all  governments, 
more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or  repressed  ;  but  in  those 
of  the  popular  form  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  ranknces, 
and  is  truly  their  worst  enemy. 

The  alternate  domination  of  one  faction  over  another, 
sharpened  by  the  spirit  of  revenge,  natural  to  party 
dissention,  which  in  different  ages  and  countries  has  per- 
petrated the  most  horrid  enormities,  is  itself  a  frightful 
despotism.  But  this  leads  at  length  to  a  more  formal  and 
permanent  despotism.  The  disorders  and  miseries  which 
result,  gradually  incline  the  minds  of  men  to  seek  secu- 
rity and  repose  in  the  absolute  power  of  an  individual; 
and,  sooner  or  later,  the  chief  of  some  prevailing  faction, 
more  able  or  more  fortunate  than  his  competitors,  turns 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  311 

this  disposition  to  the  purposes  of  his  own  elevation  oa 
the  ruins  of  the  public  liberty. 

Without  looking  forward  to  an  extremity  of  this  kind, 
(which  nevertheless  ought  not  to  be  entirely  out  of  sight,) 
the  common  and  continual  mischiefs  of  the  spirit  of  party 
are  sufficient  to  make  it  the  interest  and  duty  of  a  wise 
people  to  discourage  and  restrain  it. 

It  serves  always  to  distract  the  public  councils,  and 
enfeeble  the  public  administration.  It  agitates  the  com- 
munity with  ill-founded  jealousies  and  false  alarms  ;  kin- 
dles the  animosity  of  one  part  against  another  ;  foments 
occasional  riot  and  insurrection.  It  opens  the  door  to 
foreign  influence  and  corruption,  which  finds  a  facilitated 
access  to  the  government  itself,  through  the  channels  ot 
party  passion.  Thus  the  policy  and  will  of  one  country 
are  subjected  to  the  policy  and  will  of  another. 

There  is  an  opinion  that  parties  in  free  countries  are 
useful  chccks,upon  the  administration  of  the  government, 
and  serve  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This,  within 
certain  limits,  is  probably  true ;  and  in  governments  of  a 
monarchical  cast,  patriotism  may  look  with  indulgence, 
if  not  with  favor,  upon  the  spirit  of  party.  But  in  those 
of  popular  character,  in  governments  purely  elective,  it 
is  a  spirit  not  to  be  encouraged.  From  the  natural  ten- 
dency, it  is  certain  there  will  always  be  enough  of  that 
spirit  for  every  salutary  purpose  ;  and  there  being  constant 
danger  of  excess,  the  effort  ought  to  be,  by  force  of  public 
opinion,  to  mitigate  and  assuage  it.  A  fire  not  to  be 
quenched,  it  demands  a  uniform  vigilance  to  prevent  its 
bursting  into  a  flame,  lest,  instead  of  warming,  it  should 
consume. 

It  is  important,  likewise,  that  the  habits  of  thinking, 
in  a  free  country,  should  inspire  caution  in  those  intrust- 
ed with  its  administration,  to  confine  themselves  within 
their  respective  constitutional  spheres  ;  avoiding,  in  the 
exercise  of  the  powers  of  one  department-,  to  encroach 
upon  another.  The  spirit  of  encroachment  tends  to  con- 
solidate the  powers  of  all  the  departments  in  one,  and 
thus  to  create,  whatever  the  form  of  government,  a  real 
despotism.  A  just  estimate  of  that  love  of  power,  and 
proneness  to  abuse  it,  which  predominate  in  the  human 


313  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

heart,  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  us  of  the  truth  of  this  posi- 
tion. The  necessity  of  reciprocal  checks  in  the  exercise 
of  political  power,  by  dividing  and  distributing  into  dif- 
ferent depositories,  and  constituting  each  the  guardian  of 
the  public  weal  against  invasions  of  the  other,  has  been 
evinced  by  experiments,  ancient  and  modern ;  some  of 
them  in  our  country,  and  under  our  own  eyes.  To  pre- 
serve them  must  be  as  necessary  as  to  institute  them.  If, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  people,  the  distribution  or  modifica- 
tion of  the  constitutional  powers  be,  in  any  particular, 
wrong,  let  it  be  corrected  by  an  amendment  in  the  way 
in  which  the  constitution  designates.  But  let  there  be  no 
change  by  usurpation  ;  for  though  this,  in  one  instance, 
may  be  the  instrument  of  good,  it  is  the  customary  wea- 
pon by  which  free  governments  are  destroyed.  The  pre- 
cedent must  always  greatly  overbalance,  in  permanent 
evil,  any  partial  or  transient  benefit  which  the  use  can  at 
any  time  yield. 

Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  politi- 
cal prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable 
supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of 
patriotism,  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pil- 
lars of  human  happiness — these  firmest  props  of  the  duties 
of  men  and  citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally  with 
the  pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  them.  A 
volume  could  not  trace  all  their  connection  with  private 
and  public  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked,  where  is  the 
security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the  sense 
of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths,  which  are  the 
instruments  of  investigation  in  courts  of  justice?  And 
let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition  that  morality 
can  be  maintained  without  religion.  Whatever  may  be 
conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds 
of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid 
us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclu- 
sion of  religious  principles. 

It  is  substantially  true  that  virtue  or  morality  is  a  ne- 
cessary spring  of  popular  government.  The  rule  indeed 
extends  with  more  or  less  force  to  every  species  of  free 
government.  Who  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it  can  look 
with  indifference  upon  attempts  to  shake  the  foundation 
i>f  the  fabric  ? 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  313 

* 

Promote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance, 
institutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In 
proportion  as  the  structure  of  a  government  gives  force 
to  public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should 
be  enlightened. 

As  a  very  important  source  of  strength  and  security, 
cherish  public  credit.  One  method  of  preserving  it,  is 
to  use  it  as  sparingly  as  possible,  avoiding  occasions  of 
expense  by  cultivating  peace,  but  remembering,  also,  that 
timely  disbursements  to  prepare  for  danger,  frequently 
prevent  much  greater  disbursements  to  repel  it  ;  avoiding 
likewise  the  accumulation  of  debt,  not  only  by  shunning 
occasions  of  expense,  but  by  vigorous  exertions  in  time 
of  peace  to  discharge  the  debts  which  unavoidable  wars 
have  occasioned,  not  ungenerously  throwing  upon  pos- 
terity the  burdens  which  we  ourselves  ought  to  bear.  The 
execution  of  these  maxims  belongs  to  your  representa- 
tives ;  but  it  is  necessary  that  public  opinion  should  co- 
operate. To  facilitate  to  them  the  performance  of  their 
duty,  it  is  essential  that  you  should  practically  bear  in 
mind,  that  towards  the  payment  of  debts  there  must  be 
revenue  ;  that  to  have  revenue  there  must  be  taxes  ;  that 
no  taxes  can  be  devised  which  are  not  more  or  less  incon- 
venient and  unpleasant ;  that  the  intrinsic  embarrassment, 
inseparable  from  the  selection  of  the  proper  objects, 
(which  is  always  a  choice  of  difficulties,)  ought  to  be  a 
decisive  motive  for  a  candid  construction  of  the  conduct 
of  the  government  in  making  it,  and  for  a  spirit  of  acqui- 
escence in  the  measures  for  obtaining  revenue  which  the 
public  exigencies  may  at  any  time  dictate. 

Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards  all  nations ; 
cultivate  peace  and  harmony  with  all ;  religion  and  mo- 
rality enjoin  this  conduct ;  and  can  it  be  that  good  policy 
does  not  equally  enjoin  it?  It  will  be  worthy  of  a  free, 
enlightened,  and  at  no  distant  period,  a  great  nation,  to 
give  to  mankind  the  magnanimous  and  too  novel  example 
of  a  people  always  guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  be- 
nevolence. Who  can  doubt  but  that  in  the  course  of 
time  and  things  the  fruits  of  such  a  plan  would  richly 
repay  any  temporary  advantages  which  might  be  lost  by 
a  steady  adherence  to  it  ?  Can  it  be  that  Providence  has 
27 


314  .THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

connected  the  permanent  felicity  of  a  nation  with  its 
virtue?  The  experiment,  at  least,  is  recommended  by 
every  sentiment  which  ennobles  human  nature.  Alas ! 
it  is  rendered  impossible  by  its  vices ! 

In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  nothing  is  more 
essential  than  that  permanent,  inveterate  antipathies 
against  particular  nations,  and  passionate  attachment  for 
others,  should  be  excluded;  and  that  in  the  place  of 
them,  just  and  amicable  feelings  towards  all  should  be 
cultivated.  The  nation  which  indulges  towards  another 
an  habitual  hatred,  or  an  habitual  fondness,  is,  in  some 
degree,  a  slave.  It  is  a  slave  to  its  animosity  or  to  its 
affection,  cither  of  which  is  sufficient  to  lead  it  astray 
from  its  duty  and  its  interest.  Antipathy  in  one  nation 
against  another,  disposes  each  more  readily  to  offer  insult 
and  injury,  to  lay  hold  of  slight  causes  of  umbrage,  and 
to  be  haughty  and  intractable  when  accidental  or  trifling 
occasions  of  dispute  occur. 

Hence  frequent  collisions,  obstinate,  envenomed,  and 
bloody  contests.  The  nation,  prompted  by  ill  will  and 
resentment,  sometimes  impels  to  war  the  government, 
contrary  to  the  best  calculations  of  policy.  The  govern- 
ment sometimes  participates  in  the  national  propensity, 
and  adopts  through  passion  what  reason  would  reject ; 
at  other  times  it  makes  the  animosity  of  the  nation  sub- 
servient to  the  projects  of  hostility,  instigated  by  pride, 
ambition,  and  other  sinister  and  pernicious  motives. 
The  peace  often,  sometimes,  perhaps,  the  liberty  of  na- 
tions has  been  the  victim. 

So,  likewise,  a  passionate  attachment  of  one  nation  for 
another  produces  a  variety  of  evils.  Sympathy  for  the 
favorite  nation,  facilitating  the  illusion  of  an  imaginary 
common  interest  in  cases  where  no  real  common  interest 
exists,  and  infusing  into  one  the  enmities  of  the  other, 
betrays  the  former  into  a  participation  in  the  quarrels  and 
the  wars  of  the  latter,  without  adequate  inducements  or 
justification.  It  leads,  also,  to  concessions  to  the  favorite 
nation  of  privileges  denied  to  others,  which  are  apt 
doubly  to  injure  the  nation  making  tlu)  concessions,  by 
unnecessarily  parting  with  what  ought  to  have  been 
retained,  and  by  exciting  jealou«y,  ill  will  and  a  dispo- 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  315 

sition  to  retaliate  in  the  parties  from  whom  equal  privi- 
leges are  withheld  ;  and  it  gives  to  ambitious,  corrupt,  or 
deluded  citizens,  (who  devote  themselves  to  the  favorite 
nation,)  facility  to  betray  or  sacrifice  the  interests  of  their 
own  country  without  odium,  sometimes  even  with  popu- 
larity ;  gilding  with  the  appearances  of  a  virtuous  sense 
of  obligation  to  a  commendable  deference  for  public 
opinion,  or  a  laudable  zeal  for  public  good,  the  base 
or  foolish  compliances  of  ambition,  corruption,  or  infat- 
uation. 

As  avenues  to  foreign  influence,  in  innumerable  ways, 
such  attachments  are  particularly  alarming  to  the  truly 
enlightened  and  independent  patriot.  How  many  oppor- 
tunities do  they  afford  to  tamper  with  domestic  factions, 
to  practise  the  art  of  seduction,  to  mislead  public  opinion, 
to  influence  or  awe  the  public  councils !  Such  an  at- 
tachment of  a  small  or  weak,  towards  a  great  and  power- 
ful nation,  dooms  the  former  to  be  the  satellite  of  the 
latter.  Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence 
(I  conjure  you  to  believe  me,  fellow-citizens)  the  jealousy 
of  a  free  people  ought  to  be  constantly  awake,  since 
history  and  experience  prove  that  foreign  influence  is  one 
of  the  most  baneful  foes  of  republican  government.  But 
that  jealousy,  to  be  useful,  must  be  impartial,  else  it  be- 
comes the  instrument  of  the  very  influence  to  be  avoided, 
instead  of  a  defence  against  it.  Excessive  partiality  for 
one  foreign  nation,  and  excessive  dislike  for  another, 
cause  those  whom  they  actuate  to  see  danger  only  on  one 
side,  and  serve  to  veil  and  even  second  the  arts  of  influ- 
ence on  the  other.  Real  patriots,  who  may  resist  the 
intrigues  of  the  favorite,  are  liable  to  become  suspected 
and  odious;  while  its  tools  and  dupes  usurp  the  applause 
and  confidence  of  the  people  to  surrender  their  interests. 

The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  is,  in  extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have 
with  them  as  little  political  connection  as  possible.  So 
far  as  we  have  already  formed  engagements,  let  them  be 
fulfilled  with  perfect  good  faith.  Here  let  us  stop. 

Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests,  which  to  us  have 
none,  or  a  very  remote  relation.  Hence,  she  must  be 
engaged  in  frequent  controversies,  the  causes  of  which 


316  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

are  essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns.  Hence,  there- 
fore, it  must  be  unwise  in  us  to  implicate  ourselves  by 
artificial  ties,  in  the  ordinary  vicissitude  of  her  politics, 
or  the  ordinary  combinations  and  collisions  of  her  friend- 
ships or  enmities. 

Our  detached  and  distant  situation  invites  and  enables 
us  to  pursue  a  different  course.  If  we  remain  one  peo- 
ple, under  an  efficient  government,  the  period  is  not  far 
off  when  we  may  defy  material  injury  from  external 
annoyance ;  when  we  may  take  such  an  attitude  as  will 
cause  the  neutrality  we  may  at  any  time  resolve  upon,  to 
be  scrupulously  respected ;  when  belligerent  nations, 
under  the  impossibility  of  making  acquisitions  upon  us, 
will  not  lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provocation;  when 
we  may  choose  peace  or  war,  as  our  interest,  guided  by 
justice,  shall  counsel. 

Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  peculiar  a  situation  ? 
Why  quit  our  own  to  stand  upon  foreign  ground  ?  Why, 
by  interweaving  our  destiny  with  that  of  any  part  of 
Europe,  entangle  our  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  toils 
of  European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest,  humor  or 
caprice  ? 

It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alli- 
ances with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world  ;  so  far  I  mean, 
as  we  are  now  at  liberty  to  do  it ;  for  let  me  not  be  un- 
derstood as  capable  of  patronizing  infidelity  to  existing 
engagements.  I  hold  the  maxim  no  less  applicable  to 
public  than  to  private  affairs,  that  honesty  is  always  the 
best  policy.  I  repeat,  therefore,  let  those  engagements  be 
observed  in  their  genuine  sense.  But  in  my  opinion,  it 
is  unnecessary,  and  would  be  unwise  to  extend  them. 

Taking  care  always  to  keep  ourselves,  by  suitable 
establishments,  on  a  respectable  defensive  posture,  we 
may  safely  trust  to  temporary  alliances  for  extraordinary 
emergencies. 

Harmony,  and  a  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations, 
are  recommended  by  policy,  humanity,  and  interest. 
But  even  our  commercial  policy  should  hold  an  equal 
and  impartial  hand ;  neither  seeking  nor  granting  exclu- 
sive favors  or  preferences  ;  consulting  the  natural  course 
of  things  ;  diffusing  and  diversifying  by  gentle  means  the 


WASHIN7OTOM'S    FAREWELL    ADDRESS.  317 

stream  .of  commerce,  but  forcing  nothing;  establishing 
with  powers  so  disposed,  in  order  to  give  trade  a  stable 
course,  to  define  the  rights  of  our  merchants,  and  to 
enable  the  government  to  support  th^m,  conventional 
rules  of  intercourse,  the  best  that  present  circumstances 
and  natural  opinion  .will  permit,  but  temporary,  and 
liable  to  be,  from  time  to  time,  abandoned  or  varied,  as 
experience  and  circumstances  shall  dictate;  constantly 
keeping  in  view  that  it  is  folly  in  one  nation  to  look  for 
disinterested  favors  from  another ;  that  it  must  pay  with 
a  portion  of  its  independence  for  whatever  it  may  accept 
under  that  character ;  that  by  such  acceptance,  it  may 
place  itself  in  the  condition  of  having  given  equivalents 
for  nominal  favors,  and  yet  of  being  reproached  with 
ingratitude  for  not  giving  more.  There  can  be  no  greater 
error  than  to  expect  or  calculate  upon  real  favors  from 
nation  to  nation.  It  is  an  illusion  which  experience 
must  cure,  which  a  just  pride  ought  to  discard. 

In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these  counsels  of 
an  old  affectionate  friend,  I  dare  not  hope  they  will  make 
the  strong  and  lasting  impression  I  could  wish — that  they 
will  control  the  usual  current  of  the  passions,  or  prevent 
our  nation  from  running  the  course  which  has  hitherto 
marked  the  destiny  of  nations.  But  if  I  may  even  flatter 
myself  that  they  may  be  productive  of  some  partial  bene- 
fit, some  occasional  good ;  that  they  may  now  and  then 
recur  to  moderate  the  fury  of  party  spirit ;  to  warn  against 
the  mischiefs  of  foreign  intrigue ;  to  guard  against  the 
impostures  of  pretended  patriotism  ;  this  hope  will  be  a 
full  recompense  for  the  solicitu.de  for  your  welfare  by 
which  they  have  been  dictated. 

How  far  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties  I  have 
been  guided  by  the  principles  which  have  been  delineated, 
the  public  records  and  other  evidences  of  my  conduct 
must  witness  to  you  and  to  the  world.  To  myself,  the 
assurance  of  my  own  conscience  is,  that  I  have  at  least 
believed  myself  to  be  guided  by  them. 

In  relation  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in  Europe,  my 

proclamation  of  the  22d  of  April,  1793,  is  the  index  to 

my  plan.     Sanctioned  by  your  approving  voice,  and  by 

that  of  your  representatives  in  both  houses  of  Congress, 

27* 


318  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  spirit  of  that  measure  has  continually  governed  me, 
uninfluenced  by  any  attempts  to  deter  or  divert  me  from  it. 

After  deliberate  examination,  with  the  aids  of  the  best 
lights  I  could  obtain,  I  was  well  satisfied  that  our  coun- 
try, under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  had  a  right 
to  take,  and  was  bound  in  duty  and  interest  to  take,  a 
neutral  position.  Having  taken  it,  I  determined,  as  far 
as  should  depend  upon  me,  to  maintain  it  with  mode- 
ration, perseverance  and  firmness. 

The  considerations  which  respect  the  right  to  hold 
this  conduct,  it  is  -not  necessary  on  this  occasion  to  de- 
tail. I  will  only  observe,  that  according  to  my  under- 
standing of  the  matter,  that  right,  so  far  from  being 
denied  by  any  of  the  belligerent  powers,  has  been  virtu- 
ally admitted  by  all. 

The  duty  of  holding  a  neutral  conduct  may  be  inferred, 
without  any  thing  more,  from  the  obligation  which  justice 
and  humanity  impose  on  every  nation,  in  cases  in  which 
it  is  free  to  act,  to  maintain  inviolate  the  relations  of 
peace  and  amity  towards  other  nations. 

The  inducements  of  interest  for  observing  that  con- 
duct, will  best  be  referred  to  your  own  reflections  and 
experience.  With  me,  a  predominant  motive  has  been  to 
endeavor  to  gain  time  to  our  country,  to  settle  and  mature 
its  yet  recent  institutions,  and  to  progress,  without  inter- 
ruption, to  that  degree  of  strength  and  constancy,  which 
is  necessary  to  give  it,  humanly  speaking,  the  coir  land 
of  its  own  fortune. 

Though  in  reviewing  the  incidents-  of  my  adminis- 
tration, I  am  unconscious  of  intentional  error;  I  am 
nevertheless  too  sensible  of  my  defects  not  to  think  it 
probable  that  I  may  have  committed  many  errors.  What- 
ever they  may  be,  I  fervently  beseech  the  Almighty  to 
avert  or  mitigate  the  evils  to  which  they  may  tend.  I 
shall  also  carry  with  me  the  hope  that  my  country  will 
never  cease  to  view  them  with  indulgence ;  and  that, 
after  forty-five  years  of  my  life  dedicated  to  its  service, 
with  an  upright  zeal,  the  faults  of  incompetent  abilities 
will  be  consigned  to  oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to 
the  mansions  of  rest. 

Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in  other  things,,  and 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  319 

actuated  by  that  fervent  love  towards  it,  which  is  so  natu- 
ral to  a  man  who  views  in  it  the  native  soil  of  .himself 
and  his  progenitors  for  several  generations  ;  I  anticipate, 
with  pleasing  expectation,  that  retreat,  in  which  I  promise 
myself  to  realize,  without  alloy,  the  sweet  enjoyment  of 
partaking  in  the  midst  of  my  fellow-citizens,  the  benign 
influence  of  good  laws,  under  a  free  government  ;  the 
ever  favorite  object  of  my  heart,  and  the  happy  reward, 
as  I  trust,  of  our  mutual  cares,  labors  and  dangers. 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

Being  about  to  retire  finally  from  public  life,  I  beg  leave 
to  offer  you  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  many  proofs  of  kind- 
ness and  confidence  which  I  have  received  at  your  hands. 
It  has  been  my  fortune,  in'  the  discharge  of  public  duties, 
civil  and  military,  frequently  to  have  found  myself  in 
difficult  and  trying  situations,  where  prompt  decision  and 
energetic  action  were  necessary,  and  where  the  interests 
of  the  country  required  that  high  responsibilities  should 
be  fearlessly  encountered  ;  and  it  is  with  the  deepest  emo- 
tions of  gratitude  that  I  acknowledge  the  continued  and 
unbroken  confidence  with  which  you  have  sustained  me 
in  every  trial.  My  public  life  has  been  a  long  one,  and  I 
cannot  hope  that  it  has  at  all  times  been  free  from  errors. 

But  I  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  if  mistakes 
have  been  committed,  they  have  not  seriously  injured  the 
country  I  so  anxiously  endeavoured  to  serve  ;  and  at  the 
moment  when  I  surrender  my  last  public  trust,  I  leave  this 
great  people  prosperous  and  happy  ;  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  liberty  and  peace  ;  and  honored  and  respected  by  every 
nation  of  the  world. 

If  my  humble  efforts  have,  in  any  degree,  contributed 
to  preserve  to  you  these  blessings,  I  have  been  more  than 
rewarded  by  the  honor  you  have  heaped  upon  me  ;  and, 
above  all,  by  the  generous  confidence  with  which  you 
have  supported  me  in  every  peril,  and  with  which  you 


320  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

have  continued  to  animate  and  cheer  my  path  to  the  clos- 
ing hour  of  my  political  life.  The  time  has  now  come, 
when  advanced  age  and  a  broken  frame  warn  me  to  re- 
tire from  public  concerns ;  but  the  recollection  of  the 
many  favors  you  have  bestowed  upon  me  is  engraven 
upon  my  heart,  and  I  have  felt  that  I  could  not  part  from 
your  service  without  making  this  public  acknowledgment 
of  the  gratitude  I  owe  you.  And  if  I  use  the  occa- 
sion to  offer  to  you  the  counsels  of  age  and  experience, 
you  will,  I  trust,  receive  them  with  the  same  indulgent 
kindness  which  you  have  so  often  extended  to  me ;  and 
will,  at  least,  see  in  them  an  earnest  desire  to  perpetuate, 
in  this  favored  land,  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  equal 
laws. 

We  have  now  lived  almost  fifty  years  under  the  consti- 
tution framed  by  the  sages  and  patriots  of  the  revolution. 
The  conflicts  in  which  the  nations  of  Europe  were  en- 
gaged during  a  great  part  of  this  period ;  the  spirit  in 
which  they  waged  war  with  each  other ;  and  our  intimate 
commercial  connections  with  every  part  of  the  civilized 
world,  rendered  it  a  time  of  much  difficulty  for  the  go- 
vernment of  the  United  States.  We  have  had  our  sea- 
sons of  peace  and  of  war,  with  all  the  evils  which  precede 
or  follow  a  state  of  hostility  with  powerful  nations.  We 
encountered  these  trials  with  our  constitution  yet  in  its 
infancy,  and  under  the  disadvantages  which  a  new  and 
untried  government  must  always  feel  when  it  is  called  to 
put  forth  its  whole  strength,  without  the  lights  of  expe- 
rience to  guide  it,  or  the  weight  of  precedent  to  justify  its 
measures.  But  we  have  passed  triumphantly  through  all 
these  difficulties.  Our  constitution  is  no  longer  a  doubt- 
ful experiment ;  and  at  the  end  of  nearly  half  a  century, 
we  find  that  it  has  preserved  unimpaired  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  secured  the  rights  of  property,  and  that  our 
country  has  improved,  and  is  flourishing  beyond  any  for- 
mer example  in  the  history  of  nations. 

In  our  domestic  concerns,  there  is  every  thing  to  en- 
courage us ;  and  if  you  are  true  to  yourselves,  nothing 
can  impede  your  march  to  the  highest  point  of  national 
prosperity.  The  states  which  had  so  long  been  retarded 
in  their  improvement,  by  the  Indian  tribes  residing  in  the 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  321 

midst  of  them,  are  at  length  relieved  from  the  evil ;  and 
this  unhappy  race — the  original  dwellers  in  our  land — are 
now  placed  in  a  situation  where  we  may  well  hope  that 
they  will  share  in  the  blessings  of  civilization,  and  be 
saved  from  that  degradation  and  destruction  to  which  they 
were  rapidly  hastening  while  they  remained  in  the  states ; 
and  while  the  safety  and  comfort  of  our  own  citizens 
have  been  greatly  promoted  by  their  removal,  the  philan- 
thropist will  rejoice  that  the  remnant  of  that  ill-fated  race 
has  been  at  length  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  injury  or 
oppression,  and  that  the  paternal  care  of  the  general 
government  will  hereafter  watch  over  them  and  protect 
them. 

If  we  turn  to  our  relations  with  foreign  powers,  we 
find  our  condition  equally  gratifying.  Actuated  by  the 
sincere  desire  to  do  justice  to  every  nation,  and  to  pre- 

r  serve  the  blessing  of  peace,  our  intercourse  with  them 
has  been  conducted  on  the  part  of  this  government  in 
the  spirit  of  frankness,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that 
it  has  generally  been  met  in  a  corresponding  temper. 
Difficulties  of  old  standing  have  been  surmounted  by 
friendly  discussion  and  the  mutual  desire  to  be  just ;  and 
the  claims  of  our  citizens,  which  had  been  long  withheld, 
have  at  length  been  acknowledged  -and  adjusted,  and  sa- 
tisfactory arrangements  made  for  their  final  payment ;  and 
with  a  limited,  and,  I  trust,  a  temporary  exception,  our 
relations  with  every  foreign  power  are  now  of  the  most 
friendly  character,  our  commerce  continually  expanding, 
and  our  flag  respected  in  every  quarter  of  the  world. 

These  cheering  and  grateful  prospects,  and  these  mul- 
tiplied favors,  we  owe,  under  Providence,  to  the  adoption 
of  the  federal  constitution.  It  is  no  longer  a  question 
whether  this  great  country  can  remain  happily  united,  and 
flourish  under  our  present  form  of  government.  Expe- 
rience, the  unerring  test  of  all  human  undertakings,  has 
shown  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  those  who  framed  it ; 
and  has  proved,  that  in  the  union  of  these  states  there  is 
a  sure  foundation  for  the  brightest  hopes  of  freedom,  and 
for  the  happiness  of  the  people.  At  every  hazard,  and 
by  every  sacrifice,  this  union  must  be  preserved. 

The  necessity  of  watching  with  jealous  anxiety  for  the 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


preservation  of  the  union,  was  earnestly  pressed  upon  his 
fellow-citizens  by  the  father  of  his  country,  in  his  fare- 
well address.  He  has  there  told  us,  that  "  while  experi- 
ence shall  not  have  demonstrated  its  impracticability, 
there  will  always  be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism  of 
those  who,  in  any  quarter,  may  endeavor  to  weaken  its 
bonds ;"  and  he  has  cautioned  us  in  the  strongest  terms 
against  the  formation  of  parties,  on  geographical  discri- 
minations, as  one  of  the  means  which  might  disturb  our 
union,  and  to  which  designing  men  would  be  likely  to 
resort. 

The  lessons  contained  in  this  invaluable  legacy  of 
Washington  to  his  countrymen,  should  be  cherished  in 
the  heart  of  every  citizen  to  the  latest  generation;  and, 
perhaps,  at  no  period  of  time  could  they  be  more  usefully 
remembered  than  at  the  present  moment.  For  when  we 
look  upon  the  scenes  that  are  passing  around  us,  and 
dwell  upon  the  pages  of  his  parting  address,  his  paternal 
counsels  would  seem  to  be  not  merely  the  offspring  of 
wisdom  and  foresight,  but  the  voice  of  prophecy  foretell- 
ing events,  and  warning  us  of  the  evil  to  come.  Forty 
years  have  passed  since  this  imperishable  document  was 
given  to  his  countrymen.  The  federal  constitution  was 
then  regarded  by  him  as  an  experiment,  and  he  so  speaks 
of  it  in  his  address  ;  but  an  experiment  upon  the  success 
of  which  the  best  hopes  of  his  country  depended,  and  we 
all  know  that  he  was  prepared  to  lay  down  his  life,  if 
necessary,  to  secure  to  it  a  full  and  fair  trial.  The  trial 
has  been  made.  It  has  succeeded  beyond  the  proudest 
hopes  pf  those  who  framed  it.  Every  quarter  of  this 
widely  extended  nation  has  felt  its  blessings,  and  shared 
in  the  general  prosperity  produced  by  its  adoption.  But 
amid  this  general  prosperity  and  splendid  success,  the 
dangers  of  which  he  warned  us  are  becoming  every  day 
more  evident,  and  the  signs  of  evil  are  sufficiently  appa- 
rent to  awaken  the  deepest  anxiety  in  the  bosom  of  the 
patriot.  We  behold  systematic  efforts  publicly  made  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  discord  between  different  parts  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  place  party  divisions  directly  upon 
geographical  distinctions  ;  to  excite  the  south  against  the 
north,  and  the  north  against  the  south,  and  to  force  into 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  323 

tne  controversy  the  most  delicate  and  excited  topics  upon 
which  it  is  impossible  that  a  large  portion  of  the  Union 
can  ever  speak  without  strong  emotions.  Appeals,  too, 
are  constantly  made  to  sectional  interests,  in  order  to  in- 
fluence the  election  of  the  chief  magistrate,  as  if  it  were 
desired  that  he  should  favor  a  particular  quarter  of  the 
country,  instead  of  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his  station  with 
impartial  justice  to  all;  and  the  possible  dissolution  of  the 
Union  has  at  length  become  an  ordinary  and  familiar 
subject  of  discussion.  Has  the  warning  voice  of  Wash- 
ington been  forgotten  ?  or  have  designs  already  been 
formed  to  sever  the  Union  ?  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that 
I  impute  to  all  of  those  who  have  taken  an  active  part  in 
these  unwise  and  unprofitable  discussions  a  want  of  patri- 
otism or  of  public  virtue.  The  honorable  feel  ing  of  state 
pride  and  local  attachments,  find  a  place  in  the  bosofhs 
of  the  most  enlightened  and  pure.  But  while  such  men 
are  conscious  of  their  own  integrity  and  honesty  of  pur- 
pose, they  ought  never  to  forget  that  the  citizens  of  other 
states  are  their  political  brethren  ;  and  that,  however  mis- 
taken they  may  be  in  their  views,  the  great  body  of  them 
are  equally  honest  and  upright  with  themselves.  Mutual 
suspicions  and  reproaches  may  in  time  create  mutual 
hostility,  and  artful  and  designing  men  wrill  always  be 
found,  who  are  ready  to  foment  these  fatal  divisions,  and 
to  inflame  the  natural  jealousies  of  different  sections  of 
the  country.  The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  such 
examples,  and  especially  the  history  of  republics. 

What  have  you  to  gain  by  division  and  dissension? 
Delude  not  yourselves  with  the  belief  that  a  breach  once 
made  may  be  afterwards  repaired.  If  the  Union  is  once 
severed,  the  line  of  separation  will  grow  wider  and  wider, 
and  the  controversies  which  are  now  debated  and  settled 
in  the  halls  of  legislation,  will  then  be  tried  in  fields  of 
battle,  and  be  determined  by  the  sword.  Neither  should 
you  deceive  yourselves  with  the  hope,  that  the  first  line 
of  separation  would  be  the  permanent  one,  and  that  no- 
thing but  harmony  and  concord  would  be  found  in  the 
new  associations,  formed  upon  the  dissolution  of  this 
Union.  Local  interests  would  still  be  found  there,  and 
unchastened  ambition.  And  if  the  recollection  of  com- 


324  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

mon  dangers,  in  which  the  people  of  these  United  States 
stood  side  by  side  against  the  common  foe ;  the  memory 
of  victories  won  by  their  united  valor  ;  the  prosperity  and 
happiness  they  have  enjoyed  under  the  present  constitu- 
tion ;  the  proud  name  they  bear  as  citizens  of  this  great 
republic  ;  if  these  recollections  and  proofs  of  common 
interest  are  not  strong  enough  to  bind  us  together  as  one 
people,  what  tie  will  hold  this  Union  dissevered  ?  The 
first  line  of  separation  would  not  last  for  a  single  genera- 
tion ;  new  fragments  would  be  torn  off:  new  leaders  would 
spring  up  ;  and  this  great  and  glorious  republic  would  soon 
be  broken  into  a  multitude  of  petty  states  ;  armed  for 
mutual  aggressions;  loaded  with  taxes  to  pay  armies  and 
leaders  ;  seeking  aid  against  each  other  from  foreign  pow- 
ers; insulted  and  trampled  upon  by  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rop*,  until  harassed  with  conflicts,  and  humbled  and  de- 
based in  spirit,  they  would  be  ready  to  submit  to  the 
absolute  dominion  of  any  military  adventurer,  and  t(» 
surrender  their  liberty  for  the  sake  of  repose.  It  is  im- 
possible to  look  on  the  consequences  that  would  inevita- 
bly follow  the  destruction  of  this  government,  and  not 
feel  indignant  when  we  hear  cold  calculations  about  the 
value  of  the  Union,  and  have  so  constantly  before  us  a 
line  of  conduct  so  well  calculated  to  weaken  its  ties. 

There  is  too  much  at  stake  to  allow  pride  or  passion  to 
influence  your  decision.  Never  for  a  moment  believe 
that  the  great  body  of  the  citizens  of  any  state  or  states 
can  deliberately  intend  to  do  wrong.  They  may,  under 
the  influence  of  temporary  excitement  or  misguided  opi- 
nions, commit  mistakes  ;  they  may  be  misled  for  a  time 
by  the  suggestions  of  self-interest ;  but  in  a  community 
so  enlightened  and  patriotic  as  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  argument  will  soon  make  them  sensible  of  their 
errors ;  and  when  convinced,  they  will  be  ready  to  repair 
them.  If  they  have  no  higher  or  better  motives  to  govern 
them,  they  will  at  least  perceive  that  their  own  interest 
requires  them  to  be  just  to  others  as  they  hope  to  receive 
justice  at  their  hands. 

But  in  order  to  maintain  the  Union  unimpaired,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  the  laws  passed  by  the  constitu- 
ted authorities  should  be  faithfully  executed  in  every  part 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS,  325 

of  the  country,  and  that  every  good  citizen  should,  at  all 
times,  stand  ready  to  put  down,  with  the  combined  force 
of  the  nation,  every  attempt  at  unlawful  resistance,  under 
whatever  pretext  it  may  be  made,  or  whatever  shape  it 
may  assume.  Unconstitutional  or  oppressive  laws  may  no 
doubt  be  passed  by  Congress,  either  from  erroneou-s  views 
or  the  want  of  due  consideration ;  if  they  are  within 
reach  of  judicial  authority,  the  remedy  is  easy  and  peace- 
ful ;  and  if,  from  the  character  of  the  law,  it  is  an  abuse 
of  power  not  within  the  control  of  the  judiciary,  then  free 
discussion  and  calm  appeals  to  reason  and  to  the  justice 
of  the  people,  will  not  fail  to  redress  the  wrong.  But 
until  the  law  shall  be  declared  void  by  the  courts,  or  re- 
pealed by  Congress,  no  individual  or  combination  of  indi- 
viduals, can  be  justified  in  forcibly  resisting  its  execution. 
It  is  impossible  that  any  government  can  continue  to  exist 
upon  any  other  principles.  It  would  cease  to  be  a  govern- 
ment, and  be  unworthy  of  the  name,  if  it  had  not  the 
power  to  enforce  the  execution  of  its  own  laws  within  its 
own  sphere  of  action. 

It  is  true  that  cases  may  be  imagined  disclosing  such  a 
settled  purpose  of  usurpation  and  oppression,  on  the  part 
of  the  government,  as  would  justify  an  appeal  to  arms. 
These,  however,  are  extreme  cases,  which  we  have  no 
reason  to  apprehend  in  a  government  where  the  power  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  patriotic  people ;  and  no  citizen  who 
loves  his  country,  would  in  any  case  whatever  resort  to 
forcible  resistance,  unless  he  clearly  saw  that  the  time  had 
come  when  a  freeman  should  prefer  death  to  submission ; 
for  if  such  a  struggle  is  once  begun,  and  the  citizens  of 
one  section  of  the  country,  arrayed  in  arms  against  those 
of  another,  in  doubtful  conflict,  let  the  battle  result  as  it 
may,  there  will  be  an  end  of  the  Union,  and  with  it  an 
end  of  the  hopes  of  freedom.  The  victory  of  the  injured 
would  not  secure  to  them  the  blessings  of  liberty  ;  it 
would  avenge  their  wrongs,  but  they  would  themselves 
share  in  the  common  ruin. 

But  the   constitution  cannot  be   maintained,  nor  the 

Union  preserved,  in  opposition  to  public  feeling,  by  the 

mere  exertion  of  the  coercive  powers  confided  to  the 

general  government.     The  foundations  must  be  laid  in 

28 


3'26  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  affections  of  the  people :  in  the  security  it  gives  to 
life,  liberty,  character,  and  property,  in  every  quarter  of 
the  country  ;  and  in  the  fraternal  attachments  which  the 
citizens  of  the  several  states  bear  to  one  another,  as  mem- 
bers of  one  political  family,  mutually  contributing  to  pro- 
mote the  happiness  of  each  other.  Hence  the  citizens  of 
every  state  should  studiously  avoid  every  thing  calculated 
to  wound  the  sensibility  or  offend  the  just  pride  of  the 
people  of  other  states ;  and  they  should  frown  upon  any 
proceedings  within  their  own  borders  likely  to  disturb  the 
tranquillity  of  their  political  brethren  in  other  portions 
of  the  Union.  In  a  country  so  extensive  as  the  United 
States,  and  with  pursuits  so  varied,  the  internal  regula- 
tions of  the  several  states  must  frequently  differ  from  one 
another  in  important  particulars ;  and  this  difference  is 
unavoidably  increased  by  the  varying  principles  upon 
which  the  American  colonies  were  originally  planted ; 
principles  which  had  taken  deep  root  in  their  social  rela- 
tions before  the  revolution,  and  therefore,  of  necessity, 
influencing  their  policy  since  they  became  free  and  inde- 
pendent states.  But  each  state  has  the  unquestionable 
right  to  regulate  its  own  internal  concerns  according  to 
its  own  pleasure ;  and  while  it  does  not  interfere  with  the 
rights  of  the  people  of  other  states,  or  the  rights  of  the 
Union,  every  state  must  be  the  sole  judge  of  that  measure 
proper  to  secure  the  safety  of  its  citizens  and  promote 
their  happiness  ;  and  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  other  states  to  cast  odium  upon  their  institutions,  and 
all  measures  calculated  to  disturb  their  rights  of  property, 
or  to  put  in  jeopardy  their  peace  and  internal  tranquillity, 
are  in  direct  opposition  to  the  spirit  in  which  the  Union 
was  formed,  and  must  endanger  its  safety.  Motives  of 
philanthropy  may  be  assigned  for  this  unwarrantable  in- 
terference ;  and  weak  men  may  persuade  themselves  for 
a  moment  that  they  are  laboring  in  the  cause  of  humanity, 
and  asserting  the  rights  of  the  human  race;  but  every 
one,  upon  sober  reflection,  will  see  that  nothing  but  mis- 
chief can  come  from  these  improper  assaults  upon  the 
feelings  and  rights  of  others.  Rest  assured,  that  the  men 
found  busy  in  this  work  of  discord  are  not  worthy  of  your 
confidence,  and  deserve  your  strongest  reprobation. 


-  JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  337 

In  the  legislation  of  Congress,  also,  and  in  every  mea- 
sure of  the  general  government,  justice  to  every  portion 
of  the  United  States  should  be  faithfully  observed.  No 
free  government  can  stand  without  virtue  in  the  people, 
and  a  lofty  spirit  of  patriotism  ;  and  if  the  sordid  feelings 
of  mere  selfishness  shall  usurp  the  place  which  ought  to 
be  filled  by  public  spirit,  the  legislation  of  Congress  will 
soon  be  converted  into  a  scramble  for  personal  and  sec- 
tional advantages.  Under  our  free  institutions  the  citi- 
zens in  every  quarter  of  our  country  are  capable  of  at- 
taining a  high  degree  of  prosperity  and  happiness,  without 
seeking  to  profit  themselves  at  the  expense  of  others  ;  and 
every  such  attempt  must  in  the  end  fail  to  succeed,  for 
the  people  in  every  part  of  the  United  States  are  too  en- 
lightened not  to  understand  their  own  rights  and  interests, 
and  to  detect  and  defeat  every  effort  to  gain  undue  advan- 
tages over  them ;  and  when  such  designs  are  discovered, 
it  naturally  provokes  resentments  which  cannot  be  always 
allayed.  Justice,  full  and  ample  justice,  to  every  portion 
of  the  United  States,  should  be  the  ruling  principle  of 
every  freeman,  and  should  guide  the  deliberations  of 
every  public  body,  whether  it  be  state  or  national. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  have  always  been  those 
among  us  who  wish  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  general 
government ;  and  experience  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  this  government  to 
overstep  the  boundaries  marked  out  for  it  by  the  consti- 
tution. Its  legitimate  authority  is  abundantly  sufficient 
for  all  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  created  ;  and  its  pow- 
ers being  expressly  enumerated,  there  can  be  no  justifica- 
tion for  claiming  any  thing  beyond  them.  Every  attempt 
to  exercise  power  beyond  these  limits  should  be  promptly 
and  firmly  opposed.  For  one  evil  example  will  lead  to 
other  measures  still  more  mischievous ;  and  if  the  prin- 
ciple of  constructive  powers,  or  supposed  advantages,  or 
temporary  circumstances,  shall  ever  be  permitted  to  jus- 
tify the  assumption  of  a  power  not  given  by  the  constitu- 
tion, the  general  government  will  before  long  absorb  all  the 
powers  of  legislation,  and  you  will  have  in  effect,  but  one 
consolidated  government.  From  the  extent  of  our  coun- 
try, its  diversified  interests,  different  pursuits,  and  diffe- 


328  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

rent  habits,  it  is  too  obvious  for  argument  that  a  single 
consolidated  government  would  be  wholly  inadequate  to 
watch  over  and  protect  its  interests  ;  and  every  friend  of 
our  free  institutions  should  be  always  prepared  to  main- 
tain unimpaired  and  in  full  vigor  the  rights  and  sove- 
reignty of  the  states,  and  to  confine  the  action  of  the 
general  government  strictly  to  the  sphere  of  its  appropri- 
ate duties. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  one  of  the  powers  conferred  on 
the  federal  government  so  liable  to  abuse  as  the  taxing 
power.  The  most  productive  and  convenient  sources  of 
revenue  were  necessarily  given  to  it,  that  it  might  perform 
the  important  duties  imposed  upon  it ;  and  the  taxes 
which  it  lays  upon  commerce  being  concealed  from  the 
real  payer  in  the  price  of  the  article,  they  do  not  so  rea- 
dily attract  the  attention  of  the  people  as  smaller  sums 
demanded  from  them  directly  by  the  tax-gatherer.  But 
the  tax  imposed  on  goods,  enhances  by  so  much  the  price 
of  the  commodity  to  the  consumer;  and  as  many  of  these 
duties  are  imposed  on  articles  of  necessity  which  are 
daily  used  by  the  great  body  of  the  people,  the  money 
raised  by  these  imposts  is  drawn  from  their  pockets,  Con- 
gress has  no  right  under  the  constitution  to  take  money 
from  the  people  unless  it  is  required  to  execute  some  one 
of  the  specific  powers  intrusted  to  the  government :  and 
if  they  raise  more  than  is  necessary  for  such  purpo- 
ses, it  is  an  abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation,  and  unjust 
and  oppressive.  It  may  indeed  happen  that  the  revenue 
will  sometimes  exceed  the  amount  anticipated  when  the 
taxes  were  laid.  When,  however,  this  is  ascertained,  it 
is  easy  to  reduce  them;  and,  in  such  a  case,  it  is  unques- 
tionably the  duty  of  the  government  to  reduce  them,  for 
no  circumstances  can  justify  it  in  assuming  a  power  not 
given  to  it  by  the  constitution,  nor  in  taking  away  the 
money  of  the  people  when  it  is  not  needed  for  the  legiti- 
mate wants  of  the  government. 

Plain  as  these  principles  appear  to  be,  you  will  find 
that  there  is  a  constant  effort  to  induce  the  general  go- 
vernment to  go  beyond  the  limits  of  its  taxing  power,  and 
to  impose  unnecessary  burdens  upon  the  people.  Many 
powerful  interests  are  continually  at  work  to  procure  hea- 


JACKSON  S    FAREWELL   ADDRESS.  329 

vy  duties  on  commerce,  and  to  swell  the  revenue  beyond 
the  real  necessities  of  the  public  service ;  and  the  country 
has  already  felt  the  injurious  effects  of  their  combined  in- 
fluence. They  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  tariff  of  duties 
bearing  most  oppressively  on  the  agricultural  and  laboring 
classes  of  society,  and  producing  a  revenue  that  could 
not  be  usefully  employed  within  the  range  of  the  powers 
conferred  upon  Congress ;  and,  in  order  to  fasten  upon 
the  people  this  unjust  and  unequal  system  of  taxation,  ex- 
travagant schemes  of  internal  improvement  were  got  up, 
in  various  quarters,  to  squander  the  money  and  to  pur- 
chase support.  Thus,  one  unconstitutional  measure  was 
intended  to  be  upheld  by  another,  and  the  abuse  of  the 
power  of  taxation  was  to  be  maintained  by  usurping  the 
power  of  expending  the  money  in  internal  improvements, 
^ou  cannot  have  forgotten  the  severe  and  doubtful  strug- 
gle through  which  we  passed,  when  the  executive  depart- 
ment of  the  government,  by  its  veto,  endeavored  to  arrest 
this  prodigal  scheme  of  injustice,  and  to  bring  back  the 
legislation  of  Congress  to  the  boundaries  prescribed  by 
the  constitution.  The  good  sense  and  practical  judgment 
of  the  people,  when  the  subject  was  brought  before  them, 
sustained  the  course  of  the  executive ;  and  this  plan  of 
unconstitutional  expenditure  for  the  purposes  of  corrupt 
influence  is,  I  trust,  finally  overthrown. 

The  result  of  this  decision  has  been  felt  in  the  rapid 
extinguishment  of  the  public  debt,  and  the  large  accumu- 
lation of  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  notwithstanding  the 
tariff  was  reduced,  and  is  now  far  below  the  amount  ori- 
ginally contemplated  by  its  advocates.  But,  rely  upon  it, 
the  design  to  collect  an  extravagant  revenue,  and  to  bur- 
den you  with  taxes  beyond  the  economical  wants  of  the 
government,  is  not  yet  abandoned.  The  various  interests 
which  have  combined  together  to  impose  a  heavy  tariff, 
and  to  produce  an  overflowing  treasury,  are  too  strong, 
and  have  too  much  at  stake,  to  surrender  the  contest. 
The  corporations  and  wealthy  individuals  who  are  en- 
gaged in  large  manufacturing  establishments,  desire  a 
high  tariff  to  increase  their  gains.  Designing  politicians 
will  support  it  to  conciliate  their  favor,  and  to  obtain  the 
means  of  profuse  expenditure,  for  the  purpose  of  purcha- 
28* 


THE    TRVE    AMERICA*. 

sing  influence  in  other  quarters ;  and  since  the  people 
have  decided  that  the  federal  government  cannot  be  per- 
mitted to  employ  its  income  in  internal  improvements, 
efforts  will  be  made  to  seduce  and  mislead  the  citizens 
of  the  several  states  by  holding  out  to  them  the  deceitful 
prospect  of  benefits  to  be  derived  from  a  surplus  revenue 
collected  by  the  general  government,  and  annually  divi- 
ded among  the  states.  And  if  encouraged  by  these  falla- 
cious hopes,  the  states  should  disregard  the  principles  of 
economy  which  ought  to  characterise  every  republican 
government,  and  should  indulge  in  lavish  expenditures 
exceeding  their  resources,  they  will,  before  long,  find 
themselves  oppressed  with  debts  which  they  are  unable 
to  pay,  and  the  temptation  will  become  irresistible  to 
support  a  high  tariff,  in  order  to  obtain  a  surplus  dis- 
tribution. Do  not  allow  yourselves,  my  fellow-citizens, 
to  be  misled  on  this  subject.  The  federal  government 
cannot  collect  a  surplus  for  such  purposes,  without  viola- 
ting the  principles  of  the  constitution,  and  assuming  pow- 
ers which  have  not  been  granted.  It  is,  moreover,  a 
system  of  injustice,  and,  if  persisted  in,  will  inevitably 
lead  to  corruption,  and  must  end  in  ruin.  The  surplus 
revenue  will  be  drawn  from  the  pockets  of  the  people — 
from  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  laboring  classes 
of  society ;  but  who  will  receive  it  when  distributed  among 
the  states,  where  it  is  to  be  disposed  of  by  leading  politi- 
cians who  have  friends  to  favor,  and  political  partisans  to 
gratify  ?  It  will  certainly  not  be  returned  to  those  who 
paid  it,  and  who  have  most  need  of  it,  and  are  honest  y 
entitled  to  it.  There  is  but  one  safe  rule,  and  trial  is  to 
, confine  the  general  government  rigidly  within  the  sphere 
of  its  appropriate  duties.  It  has  no  power  to  raise  a  re- 
venue, or  impose  taxes,  except  for  the  purposes  enumera- 
ted in  the  constitution ;  and  if  its  income  is  found  to 
exceed  these  wants,  it  should  be  forthwith  reduced,  and 
the  burdens  of  the  people  so  far  lightened. 

In  reviewing  the  conflicts  which  have  taken  place  be- 
tween different  interests  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
policy  pursued  since  the  adoption  of  our  present  form  of 
government,  we  find  nothing  that  has  produced  such 
deep-seated  evil  as  the  course  of  legislation  in  relation  to 


JACKSQ:*'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  331 

the  currency.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States  un- 
questionably intended  to  secure  the  people  a  circulating 
medium  of  gold  and  silver.  But  the  establishment  of  a 
national  bank  by  Congress,  with  the  privilege  of  issuing 
paper  money  receivable  in  the  payment  of  the  public  dues, 
and  the  unfortunate  course  of  legislation  in  the  several 
states  upon  the  same  subject,  drove  from  general  circula- 
tion the  constitutional  currency,  and  substituted  one  of 
paper  in  its  place. 

It  was  not  easy  for  men  engaged  in  the  ordinary  pur- 
suits of  business,  whose  attention  had  not  been  particu- 
larly drawn  to  the  subject,  to  foresee  all  the  consequences 
of  a  currency  exclusively  of  paper :  and  we  ought  not, 
on  that  account,  to  be  surprised  at  the  facility  with  which 
laws  were  obtained  to  carry  into  effect  the  paper  system. 
Honest,  and  even  enlightened  men  are  sometimes  misled 
by  the  specious  and  plausible  statements  of  the  design- 
ing. But  experience  has  now  proved  the  mischiefs  and 
dangers  of  a  paper  currency,  and  it  rests  with  you  to  de- 
termine whether  the  proper  remedy  shall  be  applied. 

The  paper  system  being  founded  on  public  confidence, 
and  having  of  itself  no  intrinsic  value,  it  is  liable  to 
great  and  sudden  fluctuations ;  thereby  rendering  pro- 
perty insecure,  and  the  wages  of  labor  unsteady  and 
uncertain.  The  corporations  which  create  the  paper 
money  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  keep  the  circulating 
medium  uniform  in  amount.  In  times  of  prosperity, 
when  confidence  is  high,  they  are  tempted,  by  the  pros- 
pect of  gain,  or  by  the  influence  of  those  who  hope  to 
profit  by  it,  to  extend  their  issues  of  paper  beyond  the 
bounds  of  discretion  and  the  reasonable  demands  of 
business.  And  when  these  issues  have  been  pushed  on, 
from  day  to  day,  until  public  confidence  is  at  length 
shaken,  then  a  reaction  takes  place,  and  they  immedi- 
ately withdraw  the  credits  they  have  given ;  suddenly 
curtail  their  issues  ;  and  produce  an  unexpected  and  ru- 
inous contraction  of  the  circulating  medium,  which  is 
felt  by  the  whole  community.  The  banks,  by  this  means, 
save  themselves,  and  the  mischievous  consequences  of 
their  imprudence  or  cupidity  are  visited  upon  the  public. 
Nor  does  the  evil  stop  here.  These  ebbs  and  flowfc  in 


332  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  currency,  and  these  indiscreet  extensions  of  credit, 
naturally  engender  a  spirit  of  speculation  injurious  to  the 
habits  and  character  of  the  people.  We  have  already 
seen  its  effects  in  the  wild  spirit  of  speculation  in  the 
public  lands,  and  various  kinds  of  stock,  which  within 
the  last  year  or  two,  seized  upon  such  a  multitude  of  our 
citizens,  and  threatened  to  pervade  all  classes  of  society, 
and  to  withdraw  their  attention  from  the  sober  pursuits 
of  honest  industry.  It  is  not  by  encouraging  this  spirit 
that  we  shall  best  preserve  public  virtue,  and  promote 
the  true  interests  of  our  country.  But  if  your  currency 
continues  as  exclusively  paper  as  it  now  is,  it  will  foster 
this  eager  desire  to  amass  wealth  without  labor ;  it  will 
multiply  the  number  of  dependents  on  bank  accommo- 
dations and  bank  favors ;  the  temptation  to  obtain  money 
at  any  sacrifice  will  become  stronger  and  stronger,  and 
inevitably  lead  to  corruption,  which  will  find  its  way  into 
your  public  councils,  and  destroy,  at  no  distant  day,  the 
purity  of  your  government.  Some  of  the  evils  which 
arise  from  this  system  of  paper,  press  with  peculiar  hard- 
ship upon  the  class  of  society  least  able  to  bear  it.  A 
portion  of  this  currency  frequently  becomes  depreciated 
or  worthless,  and  all  of  it  is  easily  counterfeited,  in  such 
a  mariner  as  to  require  peculiar  skill  and  much  experience 
to  distinguish  the  counterfeit  from  the  genuine  notes. 

These  frauds  are  most  generally  perpetrated  in  the 
smaller  notes,  which  are  used  in  the  daily  transactions  of 
ordinary  business;  and  the  losses  occasioned  by  them 
are  commonly  thrown  upon  the  laboring  classes  of  soci- 
ety, whose  situation  and  pursuits  put  it  out  of  their  power 
to  guard  themselves  from  these  impositions,  and  whose 
daily  wages  are  necessary  for  their  subsistence.  It  is  the 
duty  of  every  government  so  to  regulate  its  currency,  as 
to  protect  this  numerous  class  as  far  as  practicable  from 
the  impositions  of  avarice  and  fraud.  It  is  more  espe- 
cially the  duty  of  the  United  States,  where  the  govern- 
ment is  emphatically  the  government  of  the  people,  and 
where  this  respectable  portion  of  our  citizens  are  so 
proudly  distinguished  from  the  laboring  classes  of  all 
other  nations,  by  their  independent  spirit,  their  love  of 
liberty,  their  intelligence,  and  their  high  tone  of  moral 


JACKSON'S  PAKE-WELL  ADDRESS.  333 

character.  Their  industry  in  peace,  is  the  source  of  our 
wealth ;  and  their  bravery  in  -war,  has  covered  us  with 
glory ;  and  the  government  of  the  United  States  will  but 
ill  discharge  its  duties,  if  it  leaves  them  a  prey  to  such 
dishonest  impositions.  Yet  it  is  evident  that  their  inte- 
rests cannot  be  effectually  protected,  unless  silver  and  gold 
are  restored  to  circulation. 

These  views  alone,  of  the  paper  currency,  are  suffi- 
cient to  call  for  immediate  reform ;  but  there  is  another 
consideration  which  should  still  more  strongly  press  it 
upon  your  attention. 

Recent  events  have  proved  that  the  paper  money  sys- 
tem of  this  country,  may  be  used  as  an  engine  to  under- 
mine your  free  instimtions ;  and  that  those  who  desire  to 
engross  all  power  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  to  govern 
by  corruption  or  force,  are  aware  of  its  power,  and  pre- 
pared to  employ  it.  Your  banks  now  furnish  your  only 
circulating  medium,  and  money  is  plenty  or  scarce,  ac- 
cording ta  the  quantity  of  notes  issued  by  them.  While 
they  have  capitals  not  greatly  disproportioned  to  each 
other,  they  are  competitors  in  business,  and  no  one  of 
them  can  exercise  dominion  over  the  rest ;  and  although, 
in  the  present  state  of  the  currency,  these  banks  may 
and  do  operate  injuriously  upon  the  habits  of  business, 
the  pecuniary  concerns,  and  the  moral  tone  of  society ; 
yet,  from  their  number  and  dispersed  situation,  they  can- 
not combine  for  the  purposes  of  political  influence ;  and 
whatever  may  be  the  dispositions  of  some  of  them,  their 
power  of  mischief  must  necessarily  be  confined  to  a 
narrow  space,  and  felt  only  in  their  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. 

But  when  the  charter  for  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  was  obtained  from  Congress,  it  perfected  the 
schemes  of  the  paper  system,  and  gave  its  advocates  the 
position  they  have  struggled  to  obtain,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  federal  government  down  to  the  pre- 
sent hour.  The  immense  capital,  the  peculiar  privileges 
bestowed  upon  it,  enabled  it  to  exercise  despotic  sway 
over  the  other  banks  in  every  part  of  the  country.  From 
its  superior  strength,  it  could  seriously  injure,  if  not  de- 
stroy the  business  of  any  one  of  them  which  might  incur 


334  THE    TROE    AMERICA^. 

its  resentment ;  and  it  openly  claimed  for  itself  the  power 
of  regulating  the  currency  throughout  the  United  States. 
In  other  words,  it  asserted  (and  undoubtedly  possessed) 
the  power  to  make  money  plenty  or  scarce,  at  its  pleasure, 
at  any  time,  and  in  any  quarter  of  the  Union  by  con- 
trolling the  issues  of  other  banks,  and  permitting  an 
expansion,  or  compelling  a  general  contraction,  of  the 
circulating  medium,  according  to  its  own  will.  The 
other  banking  institutions  were  sensible  of  its  strength, 
and  they  soon  generally  became  its  obedient  instruments, 
ready  at  all  times,  to  execute  its  mandates;  and  with  the 
banks  necessarily  went  also  that  numerous  class  of  per- 
sons in  our  commercial  cities,  who  depend  altogether  on 
bank  credits  for  their  solvency  and  means  of  business; 
and  who  are,  therefore,  obliged,  for  their  own  safety,  to 
propitiate  the  favor  of  the  money  power  by  distinguished 
zeal  and  devotion  in  its  service.  The  result  of  the  ill- 
advised  legislation  which  established  this  great  monopoly 
was  to  concentrate  the  whole  moneyed  power  of  the 
Union,  with  its  boundless  means  of  corruption,  and  its 
numerous  dependents,  under  the  direction  and  command 
of  one  acknowledged  head ;  thus  organizing  this  particu- 
lar-interest as  one  body,  and  securing  to  it  unity  and 
concert  of  action  throughout  the  United  States,  and  en- 
abling it  to  bring  forward,  upon  any  occasion,  its  entire 
and  undivided  strength  to  support  or  defeat  any  measure 
of  the  government.  In  the  hands  of  this  formidable 
power,  thus  perfectly  organized, -was  also  placed  unlimited 
dominion  over  the  amount  of  the  circulating  medium, 
giving  it  the  power  to  regulate  the  value  of  property  and 
the  fruits  of  labor  in  every  quarter  of  the  Union ;  and  to 
bestow  prosperity,  or  bring  ruin  upon  any  city  or  section 
of  the  country,  as  might  best  comport  with  its  own  inte- 
rest or  policy. 

We  are  not  left  to  conjecture  how  the  moneyed  power, 
thus  organized,  and  with  su<!h  a  weapon  in  its  hands, 
would  be  likely  to  use  it.  The  distress  and  alarm  which 
pervaded  and  agitated  the  whole  country,  when  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  waged  war  upon  the  people,  in  order 
to  compel  them  to  submit  to  its  demands,  cannot  yet  be 
forgotten.  The  ruthless  and  unsparing  temper  with  which 


JACKSON  S    FAREWELL    ADDRESS.  335 

whole  cities  and  communities  were  oppressed,  individu- 
als impoverished  and  ruined,  and  a  scene  of  cheerful 
prosperity  suddenly  changed  into  one  of  gloom  and 
despondency,  ought  to  be  indelibly  impressed  on  the 
memory  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  If  such 
was  its  power  in  a  time  of  peace,  what  would  it  not  have 
been  in  a  season  of  war,  with  an  enemy  at  your  doors? 
No  nation  but  the  freemen  of  the  United  States  could 
have  come  out  victorious  from  such  a  contest;  yet,  if  you 
had  not  conquered,  the  government  would  have  passed 
from  the  hands  of  the  many  to  the  hands  of  the  few ; 
and  this  organized  money  power,  from  its  secret  con- 
clave, would  have  dictated  the  choice  of  your  highest 
officers,  and  compelled  you  to  make  peace  or  war,  as  best 
suited  their  own  wishes.  The  forms  of  your  govern- 
ment might,  for  a  trine,  have  remained ;  but  its  living 
spirit  would  have  departed  from  it. 

The  distress  and  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  people  by 
the  bank,  are  some  of  the  fruits  of  that  system  of  policy 
which  is  continually  striving  to  enlarge  the  authority  of 
the  federal  government  beyond  the  limits  fixed  by  the 
constitution.  The  powers  enumerated  in  that  instru- 
ment do  not  confer  on  Congress  the  right  to  establish 
such  a  corporation  as  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ; 
and  the  evil  consequences  which  followed  may  warn  us 
of  the  danger  of  departing  from  the  true  rule  of  con- 
struction, and  of  permitting  temporary  circumstances,  or 
the  hope  of  better  promoting  the  public  welfare,  to  influ- 
ence in  any  degree  our  decisions  upon  the  extent  of  the 
authority  of  the  general  government.  Let  us  abide  by 
the  constitution  as  it  is  written,  or  amend  it  in  the  con- 
stitutional mode  if  it  is  found  defective. 

The  severe  lessons  of  experience  will,  I  doubt  not,  be 
sufficient  to  prevent  Congress  from  again  chartering 
such  a  monopoly,  even  if  the  constitution  did  not  pre- 
sent an  insuperable  objection  to  it.  But  you  must  re- 
member, my  fellow-citizens,  that  eternal  vigilance  by  the 
people  is  the  price  of  liberty  ;  and  that  you  must  pay  the 
price  if  you  wish  to  secure  the  blessing.  It  behoves 
you,  therefore,  to  be  watchful  in  your  states,  as  well  as 
in  the  federal  government.  The  power  which  the  mo- 


336  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

neyed  interest  can  exercise,  when  concentrated  under  a 
single  head  and  with  our  present  system  of  currency, 
was  sufficiently  demonstrated  in  the  struggle  made  by  the 
United  States  Bank.  Defeated  in  the  general  govern- 
ment, the  same  class  of  intriguers  and  politicians  will 
now  resort  to  the  states,  and  endeavor  to  obtain  there  the 
same  organization,  which  they  failed  to  perpetuate  in 
the  Union;  and  with  specious  and  deceitful  plans  of  pub- 
lic advantages,  and  state  interests,  and  state  pride,  they 
will  endeavor  to  establish,  in  the  different  states,  one 
moneyed  institution  with  overgrown  capital,  and  exclu 
sive  privileges  sufficient  to  enable  it  to  control  the  ope- 
rations of  other  banks.  Such  an  institution  will  be 
pregnant  with  the  same  evils  produced  by  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  although  its  sphere  of  action  is  more 
confined  ;  and  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  chartered,  the 
money  power  will  be  able  to  embody  its  whole  strength, 
and  to  move  together  with  undivided  force,  to  accomplish 
any  object  it  may  wish  to  attain.  You  have  already  had 
abundant  evidence  of  its  powers  to  inflict  injury  upon  the 
agricultural,  mechanical,  and  laboring  classes  of  society  ; 
and  over  those  whose  engagements  in  trade  or  specula- 
tion render  them  dependent  on  bank  facilities,  the  domin- 
ion of  the  state  monopoly  will  be  absolute,  and  their 
obedience  unlimited.  With  such  a  bank  and  a  paper 
currency,  the  money  power  would  in  a  few  years  govern 
the  state  and  control  its  measures;  and  if  a  sufficient 
number  of  states  can  be  induced  to  create  such  estab- 
lishments, the  time  will  soon  come  when  it  will  again  take 
the  field  against  the  United  States,  and  succeed  in  per- 
fecting and  perpetuating  its  organization  by  a  charter 
from  Congress. 

It  is  one  of  the  serious  evils  of  our  present  system  of 
banking,,  that  it  enables  one  class  of  society — and  that  by 
no  means  a  numerous  one — by  its  control  over  the  cur- 
rency, to  act  injuriously  upon  the  interests  of  all  the 
others,  and  to  exercise  more  than  its  just  proportion  of 
influence  in  political  affairs.  The  agricultural,  the  me- 
chanical, and  the  laboring  classes,  have  little  or  no  share 
in  the  direction  of  the  great  moneyed  corporations ;  and 
from  their  habits  and  the  nature  of  their  pursuits,  they 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  337 

are  incapable  of  forming  extensive  combinations  to  act 
together  with  united  force.  Such  concert  of  action  may 
sometimes  be  produced  in  a  single  city,  or  in  a  small  dis- 
trict of  country,  by  means  of  personal  communications 
with  each  other ;  but  they  have  no  regular  or  active  cor- 
respondence with  those  who  are  engaged  in  similar  pur- 
suits in  distant  places ;  they  have  but  little  patronage  to 
give  to  the  press,  and  exercise  but  a  small  share  of  influ- 
ence over  it ;  they  have  no  crowd  of  dependents  about 
them,  who  hope  to  grow  rich  without  labor,  by  their 
countenance  and  favor,  and  who  are,  therefore,  always 
ready  to  execute  their  wishes.  The  planter,  the  farmer, 
the  mechanic,  and  the  laborer,  all  know  that  their  suc- 
cess depends  upon  their  own  industry  and  economy,  and 
that  they  must  not  expect  to  become  suddenly  rich  by  the 
fruits  of  their  toil.  Yet  these  classes  form  the  great  body 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  they  are  the  bone 
and  sinew  of  the  country :  men  who  love  liberty,  and 
desire  nothing  but  equal  rights  and  equal  laws,  and  who, 
moreover,  hold  the  great  mass  of  our  national  wealth, 
although  it  is  distributed  in  moderate  amounts  among 
the  millions  of  freemen  who  possess  it.  But,  with  over- 
whelming numbers  and  wealth  on  their  side,  they  are  in 
constant  danger  of  losing  their  fair  influence  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  with  difficulty  maintain  their  just  rights  against 
the  incessant  efforts  daily  made  to  encroach  upon  them. 

The  mischief  springs  from  the  power  which  the  mo- 
neyed interest  derives  from  a  paper  currency,  which  they 
are  able  to  control,  from  the  multitude  of  corporations 
with  exclusive  privileges,  which  they  have  succeeded  in 
obtaining  in  the  different  states,  and  which  are  employed 
altogether  for  their  benefit,  and  unless  you  become  more 
watchful  in  your  states,  and  check  this  spirit  of  monopo- 
ly and  thirst  for  exclusive  privileges,  you  will,  in  the  end, 
find  that  the  most  important  powers  of  government  have 
been  given  or  bartered  away,  and  the  control  over  your 
dearest  interests  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  these  cor- 
porations. 

The  paper-moneyed  system,  and  its  natural  associates, 
monopoly   and  exclusive   privileges,  have  already  struck 
their  roots  deep  in  the  soil,  and  it  will  require  all  your 
29 


338  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

efforts  to  check  its  further  growth,  and  to  eradicate  the 
evil.  The  men  who  profit  by  the  abuses,  and  desire  to 
perpetuate  them,  will  continue  to  besiege  the  halls  of 
legislation  in  the  general  government  as  well  as  in  the 
states,  and  will  seek,  by  every  artifice,  to  mislead  and  de- 
ceive the  public  servants.  It  is  to  yourselves  that  you 
must  look  for  safety  and  the  means  of  guarding  and  per- 
petuating your  free  institutions.  In  your  hands  is  right- 
fully placed  the  sovereignty  of  the  country,  and  to  you 
every  one  placed  in  authority  is  ultimately  responsible. 
It  is  always  in  your  power  to  see  that  the  wishes  of  the 
people  are  carried  into  faithful  execution,  and  their  will, 
when  once  made  known,  must  sooner  or  later  be  obeyed. 
And  while  the  people  remain,  as  I  trust  they  ever  will, 
uncorrupted  and  incorruptible,  and  continue  watchful  and 
jealous  of  their  rights,  the  government  is  safe,  and  the 
cause  of  freedom  will  continue  to  triumph  over  all  its 
enemies. 

But  it  will  require  steady  and  persevering  exertions  on 
your  part  to  rid  yourselves  of  the  iniquities  and  mischiefs 
of  the  paper  system,  and  to  check  the  spirit  of  monopoly 
and  other  abuses  which  have  sprung  up  with  it,  and  of 
which  it  is  the  main  support.  So  many  interests  are  uni- 
ted to  resist  all  reform  on  this  subject,  that  you  must  not 
hope  the  conflict  will  be  a  short  one,  nor  success  easy. 
My  humble  efforts  have  not  been  spared,  during  my  ad- 
ministration of  the  government,  to  restore  the  constitu- 
tional currency  of  gold  and  silver  ;  and  something,  I  trust, 
has  been  done  towards  the  accomplishment  of  this  most 
desirable  object.  But  enough  yet  remains  to  require  all 
your  energy  and  perseverance.  The  power,  however,  is 
in  your  hands,  and  the  remedy  must  and  will  be  applied 
if  you  determine  upon  it. 

While  I  am  thus  endeavoring  to  press  upon  your  atten- 
tion the  principles  which  I  deem  of  vital  importance  to 
the  domestic  concerns  of  the  country,  I  ought  not  to  pass 
over  without  notice,  the  important  considerations  which 
should  govern  your  policy  towards  foreign  powers.  It  is 
unquestionably  our  true  interest  to  cultivate  the  most 
friendly  understanding  with  every  nation,  and  to  avoid,  by 
every  honorable  means,  the  calamities  of  war ;  and  we 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  339 

shall  best  attain  that  object  by  frankness  and  sincerity  in 
our  foreign  intercourse,  by  the  prompt  and  faithful  exe- 
cution of  treaties,  and  by  justice  and  impartiality  in  our 
conduct  to  all.  But  no  nation,  however  desirous  of 
peace,  can  hope  to  escape  collisions  with  other  powers  ; 
and  the  soundest  dictates  of  policy  require  that  we  should 
place  ourselves  in  a  condition  to  assert  our  rights,  if  a 
resort  to  force  should  ever  become  necessary.  Our  local 
situation,  our  long  line  of  sea-coast,  indented  by  nume- 
rous bays,  with  deep  rivers  opening  into  the  interior,  as 
well  as  her  extended  and  still  increasing  commerce,  point 
to  the  navy  as  our  natural  means  of  defence.  It  will,  in 
the  end,  be  found  to  be  the  cheapest  and  most  effectual ; 
and  now  is  the  time,  in  a  season  of  peace,  and  with  an 
overflowing  revenue,  that  we  can  year  after  year  add  to 
its  strength,  without  increasing  the  burdens  of  the  peo- 
ple. It  is  your  true  policy.  For  your  navy  will  not  only 
protect  your  rich  and  flourishing  commerce  in  distant 
seas,  but  enable  you  to  reach  and  annoy  the  enemy,  and 
will  give  to  defence  its  greatest  efficiency,  by  meeting 
danger  at  a  distance  from  home.  It  is  impossible  by  any 
line  of  fortifications  to  guard  every  point  from  attack 
against  a  hostile  force  advancing  from  the  ocean,  and  se- 
lecting its  object ;  but  they  are  indispensable  to  prevent 
cities  from  bombardment ;  dock-yards  and  navy  arsenals 
from  destruction  ;  to  give  shelter  to  merchant  vessels  in 
time  of  war,  and  to  single  ships  of  weaker  squadrons 
when  pressed  by  superior  force.  Fortifications  of  this 
description  cannot  be  too  soon  completed  and  armed,  and 
placed  in  a  condition  of  the  most  perfect  preparation. 
The  abundant  means  we  now  possess  cannot  be  applied 
in  any  manner  more  useful  to  the  country  ;  and  when  this 
is  done,  and  our  naval  force  sufficiently  strengthened,  and 
our  military  armed,  we  need  not  fear  that  any  nation  will 
wantonly  insult  us,  or  needlessly  provoke  hostilities.  We 
shall  more  certainly  preserve  peace,  when  it  is  well  un- 
derstood that  we  are  prepared  for  war. 

In  presenting  to  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  these  parting 
counsels,  I  have  brought  before  you  the  leading  principles 
upon  which  I  endeavored  to  administer  the  government 
in  the  high  office  with  which  you  twice  honored  me. 


340  THE    TRCE    AMERICAN. 

Knowing  that  the  path  of  freedom  is  continually  beset  by 
enemies,  who  often  assume  the  disguise  of  friends,  I  have 
devoted  the  last  hours  of  my  public  life  to  warn  you  of 
the  dangers.  The  progress  of  the  United  States,  under 
our  free  and  happy  institutions,  has  surpassed  the  most 
sanguine  hopes  of  the  founders  of  the  republic.  Our 
growth  has  been  rapid  beyond  all  former  example,  in. 
numbers,  in  wealth,  in  knowledge,  and  all  the  useful  arts 
which  contribute  to  the  comforts  and  convenience  of  man ; 
and  from  the  earliest  ages  of  history  to  the  present  day, 
there  never  have  been  thirteen  millions  of  people  asso- 
ciated together  in  one  political  body,  who  enjoyed  so 
much  freedom  and  happiness  as  the  people  of  these  United 
States.  You  have  no  longer  any  cause  to  fear  danger 
from  abroad ;  your  strength  and  power  are  well  known 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  as  well  as  the  high  and 
gallant  bearing  of  your  sons.  It  is  from  within,  among 
yourselves,  from  cupidity,  from  corruption,  from  disap- 
pointed ambition,  and  inordinate  thirst  for  power,  that 
factions  will  be  formed  and  liberty  endangered.  It  is 
against  such  designs,  whatever  disguise  the  actors  may 
assume,  that  you  have  especially  to  guard  yourselves. 
You  have  the  highest  of  human  trusts  committed  to  your 
care.  Providence  has  showered  on  this  favored  land 
blessings  without  number,  and  has  chosen  you,  as  the 
guardians  of  freedom,  to  preserve  it  for  the  benefit  of  the 
human  race.  May  He,  who  holds  in  his  hands  the  desti- 
nies of  nations,  make  you  worthy  of  the  favors  he  has 
bestowed,  and  enable  you,  with  pure  hearts,  and  pure 
hands,  and  sleepless  vigilance,  to  guard  and  defend  to  the 
end  of  time  the  great  charge  he  has  committed  to  your 
keeping. 

My  own  race  is  nearly  run ;  advanced  age  and  failing 
health  warn  me  that  before  long  I  must  pass  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  events,  and  cease  to  feel  the  vicissitudes 
of  human  affairs.  I  thank  God  that  my  life  has  been 
spent  in  a  land  of  liberty,  and  that  he  has  given  me  a 
heart  to  love  my  country  with  the  affection  of  a  son.  And 
filled  with  gratitude  for  your  constant  and  unwavering 
kindness,  I  bid  you  a  last  and  affectionate  farewell. 


ADDRESS 

TO  THE 

YOUNG  MEN  AND  TO  THE  PEOPLE 

OF  AMERICA. 


Fellow-Citizens : 

THE  American  people  seem  to  have  been  set  apart  by 
Providence  to  fulfil  a  lofty  and  peculiar  destiny.  The 
sublime  doctrine,  that  all  men  are  equal  before  God,  may 
have  been  taught  by  sages,  and  deeply  felt  by  patriots  and 
philanthropists  through  many  long  centuries  of  slavery  and 
darkness ;  but  never,  until  the  great  experiment  of  self-go- 
vernment commenced  upon  this  western  continent,  was  it 
any  thing  more  than  a  beautiful  theory.  The  masses  of 
mankind  had  always  fought,  and  toiled,  and  groaned,  that 
a  few  might  triumph  in  the  victories  they  had  gained, 
reap  the  harvests  they  had  cultivated,  and  enjoy  the  fruit 
of  their  sufferings.  The  monstrous,  faith  of  millions 
made  for  one,  was  the  practical  faith  of  all  the  old 
world,  Christendom  and  pagandom,  and  no  mighty  fiat 
had  proclaimed  to  man,  BE  FREE  !  till  Liberty  opened  her 
asylum,  and  kindled  up  her  beacon  fires  in  this  new 
world  untrodden  by  the  foot  of  a  tyrant. 

God  has  given  us  the  heritage  of  freedom.  The  Pil- 
grims who  crossed  the  Atlantic  left  behind  them  the  im- 
mediate and  bodily  presence  of  aristocracy.  The  heroei 
who  achieved  our  independence  cast  off  the  direct  politi- 
cal control  of  the  same  arbitrary  power.  The  statesmen 
who  extinguished  the  aristocratic  influence,  more  subtle 
but  not  less  dangerous,  of  an  organized  money  power 
emanating  from  Britain,  consummated  the  work,  and  if 
sustained  by  a  people  understanding  and  loving  indepen- 
dence, liberty,  and  equality,  will  have  established  the»t 
29* 


342  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

inestimable  blessings  and  blood-bought  rights  upon  a  basis 
impregnable  and  everlasting. 

Never  will  such  an  opportunity  be  offered  a  second 
time  to  a  people  who  had  not  the  wisdom  and  the  virtue 
at  once  to  embrace  it.  If  self-government  in  this  full 
and  fair  trial  of  its  capacities  be  found  to  fail,  the  hope 
of  liberty  is  gone  forever.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  our  con- 
stitution should  be  found  able  to  meet  that  absolute  neces- 
sity out  of  which  governments  grew,  if  it  should  be  found 
competent  to  fulfil  all  those  high  purposes  for  which  go- 
vernments are  maintained,  especially  if  it  should  be  found 
to  answer  the  ends  for  which  men  in  society  have  mutu- 
ally surrendered  some  portion  of  their  natural  freedom, 
with  less  encroachment  on  their  natural  rights,  at  a  cheap- 
er rate  and  in  a  more  satisfactory  manner,  by  a  shorter, 
simpler,  surer,  and  more  efficient  process,  it  is  not  presump- 
tuous to  foretell,  that  sooner  or  later  the  example  will  be 
every  where  imitated,  and  that  in  the  progress  of  time,  as 
surely  as  ages  roll  on,  the  day  will  come  when  the  light  of 
liberty  shall  shine  on  all  who  sit  in  darkness,  when  over  all 
her  wide-spread  continents  and  among  her  widely  differing 
races,  the  world  shall  no  longer  be  governed  too  much. 

This  is  our  part  in  the  world's  work.  This  is  the  stu- 
pendous mission  which  we  are  either  to  thwart,  or  to 
accomplish.  To  realize  these  soul-cheering  expectations, 
devolves  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

And  who  are  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  ? 
Who  were  their  fathers  ?  Picked  men  every  one  of  them  ; 
tried  by  the  ordeal  of  adversity,  and  selected  by  their  ten- 
derness of  conscience,  their  steadfastness  in  duty,  their 
daring  in  adventure,  their  fortitude  under  suffering.  Had 
they  not  possessed  all  these  qualities,  the  desolate  coast  of 
Plymouth,  the  inhospitable  home  of  the  savage,  would  never 
have  received  them.  Had  they  not  been  actuated  by  the 
love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  no  other  motive  could 
have  retained  them  "  in  this  howling  wilderness"  till  they 
had  made  it  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  That  such  a 
people,  coming  at  such  a  time,  to  such  a  country,  should 
have  there  planted  the  liberty  which  they  came  to  enjoy, 
and  should  have  kept  it  as  the  apple  of  their  eye,  and  that  in 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  348 

piocess  of  time  they  should  have  become  independent  of 
the  mother  country,  cannot  excite  surprise.  That  having 
no  privileged  orders  or  aristocracy  of  landholders  among 
them,  but  setting  out  on  the  principle  of  an  entire  equali- 
ty of  rights,  they  should  have  framed  and  enacted  laws 
calculated  to  encourage,  promote,  and  preserve  that  equal- 
ity, is  not  to  be  doubted.  Neither  is  it  any  thing  won- 
derful that  the  attempt  should  be  to  some  extent  and  for  a 
limited  time  successful.  But  the  question  which  the  pa- 
triot anxiously,  the  advocate  of  arbitrary  governments 
sneeringly,  asks,  is  this, — Will  your  system  last  ?  Are 
there  not  latent  causes  of  corruption  inherent  in  it  which 
must  sooner  or  later  work  its  overthrow? 

The  capacity  of  the  people  in  any  nation  to  govern 
themselves,  however  excellent  might  be  their  intellectual, 
moral,  and  political  education,  and  under  whatever  favor- 
able circumstances,  was  not  merely  called  in  question ;  it 
was  almost  universally  denied  r  it  was  only  the  theory  of 
a  few  sanguine  speculators  upon  human  perfectibility, 
thinly  scattered  over  the  world,  until  the  Fourth  of  July, 
seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-six.  Since  that  day  it 
has  been  a  fact,  obvious,  indisputable,  penetrating  every 
where,  dispelling  by  its  radiant  clearness  that  political 
bigotry,  in  which  the  millions  of  our  race  had  blindly 
submitted  to  the  fiat  of  arbitrary  power  as  to  the  irresisti- 
ble decree  of  fate.  It  is  the  star  of  Hope  and  Promise. 
Enlightened  by  its  beams,  the  oppressed  discern  the  weak- 
ness of  the  tyrant.  They  now  no  longer  must  bow  their 
servile  necks  beneath  the  yoke  of  one  of  their  fellows, 
neither  stronger  nor  better  than  themselves  :  no  longer 
must  the  many  sow,  that  the  few  may  reap :  no  longer 
must  myriads  toil,  and  sin,  and  suffer,  and  perish,  that  one 
glorious  name  may  fill  a  page  in  history :  no  longer  shall 
the  husbandman  and  the  artisan,,  torn  from  their  peaceful 
labors  to  carry  desolation  and  death  to  the  homes  of  those 
who  have  never  wronged  them,  be  dragged,  brute  victims 
to  slaughter,  at  the  chariot  wheels  of  a  conqueror.  Free- 
dom guarantees  governments  in  the  interests  of  those  that 
are  governed,  and  intelligence  and  virtue  are  now  the  only 
qualifications  necessary  for  the  enjoyment  of  freedom. 

Independence  is  proclaimed,  and  with  the  souad  a  n*» 


344  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tion  starts  into  being,  not  like  her  elder  sisters,  held  in 
thraldom,  but  all  her  limbs  unbound  and  free ;  not  like 
them,  slow  of  growth,  and  after  a  tardy  development,  at- 
taining only  to  a  dwarfish  deformity,  but  like  Minerva, 
from  the  head  of  Jove,  at  once  mature  in  wisdom,  cou- 
rage, dignity,  and  power,  knowing  her  rights,  and  fully 
armed  to  maintain  them  against  every  aggressor,  asking 
nothing  but  what  is  right,  submitting  to  nothing  wrong — 
equally  ready  to  vindicate  her  just  cause,  whether  Britain 
provokes  her  youthful  energies,  or  France  delays  to  do 
her  justice,  or  Algiers  or  Mexico  insults  her  hardy  sons 
upon  that  element  which  is  their  home  and  empire. 

The  Fourth  of  July,  1776,  was  the  date  of  our  politi- 
cal separation  from  Great  Britain.  The  separation  left 
the  colonies  independent  states.  But  political  indepen- 
dence was  only  a  single  step  towards  freedom  from  foreign 
influence.  Much  remained  to  be  done — alas!  much  yet 
remains  to  be  done — before  these  United  States  can  be 
pronounced  to  be  completely  and  in  the  broadest  sense 
independent  of  Great  Britain.  The  British  spirit  is  still 
largely  felt ;  it  still  in  a  great  measure  predominates  over 
our  literature,  our  manners  and  customs,  through  the 
whole  tone  of  our  society,  in  the  whole  tenor  and  spirit 
of  our  laws,  and  in  far  too  much  of  our  domestic  and 
foreign  policy.  It  was  natural  that  this  should  have  been 
no;  it  is  inexcusable  that  it  should  remain  so.  It  is  high 
time  that  we  were  independent,  not  only  politically,  but 
intellectually,  morally,  and  without  qualification. 

The  founders  of  our  states  were  British  emigrants. 
They  brought  with  them  the  spirit  of  liberty,  but  it  was 
the  spirit  of  British  liberty,  as  modified  by  British  insti- 
tutions, and  as  qualified  by  British  prejudices.  They  were 
firm,  consistent,  and  loyal  friends  of  the  British  consti- 
tution, and  they  were  disposed  to  yield  a  hearty  obedi- 
ence to  the  British  government,  within  the  limits  of  the 
British  constitution.  The  British  government  undertook 
to  impose  upon  them  burdens  which  the  British  constitu- 
tion did  not  warrant,  and  like  true  Englishmen  they  re- 
sisted. They  vindicated  for  themselves  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  Englishmen.  This  brought  on  alienation, 
war,  secession,  and  those  who  at  first  meant  only  to  hold 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  345 

fast  their  birthright  as  British  subjects,  ended  by  casting 
off  their  allegiance  to  the  British  crown. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  our  fathers 
were,  generally  speaking,  whigs  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  were 
warmly  attached  to  the  British  constitution  as  it  then 
existed.  They  were  attached,  and  adhered  with  a  loyal 
fervor,  to  hereditary  monarchy  in  the  Protestant  succes- 
sion, to  a  hereditary  peerage,  and  to  that  elective  aristo- 
cracy, the  house  of  commons,  which  by  a  legal  fiction 
was  said  to  represent  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  They 
were  thoroughly  imbued  with  British  principles — with 
whig  principles ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  seven  years'  war 
most  of  them  got  gradually,  though  effectually,  rid  of 
these  principles — they  ceased  to  be  British  whigs,  and 
became  American  democrats. 

The  mere  act  however  of  severing  the  political  connec- 
tion between  ourselves  and  the  mother  country  did  not, 
of  itself,  necessarily  and  immediately,  alter  the  whole 
complexion  of  every  article  in  the  political  creed  of  every 
American.  Some,  no  doubt,  who  were  most  bigoted  in 
their  attachment  to  British  principles,  continued  in  the 
faith  in  which  they  were  brought  up — continued  to  be 
whigs.  It  has  even  been  said,  that,  long  after  the  war 
was  over,  there  were  distinguished  men  who  still  held  fast 
to  the  whig  system.  It  was  said  that  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton declared  that  the  British  constitution,  with  all  its 
faults,  and  with  all  its  corruptions,  was  the  most  admira- 
ble constitution  upon  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  that 
without  its  corruptions  it  would  be  altogether  impractica- 
ble. If  this  were  so,  this  great  man  must  have  been  a 
thorough  whig  after  the  federal  constitution  had  been 
some  years  in  operation.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  there 
were  others  who  entertained,  if  they  did  not  avow,  the 
sentiment  attributed  to  Hamilton.  Such  sentiments,  un- 
der various  disguises,  have  survived  to  the  present  day. 
There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  genuine  whigs  may  yet 
be  found  in  New  England,  the  part  of  the  country  which 
most  nearly  resembles  Old  England,  still  cherishing, 
through  good  report  and  evil  report,  the  political  faith 
which  they  inherit  from  ante-revolutionary  times ;  like 
Bourbons,  forgetting  nothing,  learning  nothing, — un- 


346  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

changeable  through  sixty  years  of  hard  experience. 
These  whigs,  however,  must  be  antiquities  and  curiosW 
ties, — few  and  far  between,  contrasting  oddly  enough  with 
rational  American  democrats. 

The  majority  of  the  people,  however,  are  not,  and  never 
again  can  be  whigs.  They  desire,  and  have  long  desired, 
to  cast  off  that  British  influence,  which  weighs  so  heavily 
upon  us,  from  education  and  habit,  but  which  is  so  re- 
pugnant to  our  institutions,  condition,  and  character.  It 
is  therefore  interesting  to  ascertain,  by  what  steps,  and 
how  far,  we  have  discarded  the  unwholesome  control  of 
notions  derived  from  our  colonial  dependence ;  and  by 
what  measures,  and  to  what  extent  it  is  expedient  that  we 
should  endeavor  to  eradicate  the  leaven  that  remains,  and 
to  make  ourselves  in  very  deed  and  truth,  as  our  fathers 
declared  th.at  we  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and 
independent  states. 

The  power  to  tax  the  colonies  without  their  consent 
was  never  constitutionally  possessed  by  Great  Britain. 
The  attempt  to  exercise  this  power  brought  on  resistance, 
and  a  war,  in  the  course  of  which  the  declaration  of  in- 
dependence was  issued,  and  maintained.  The  successful 
issue  of  that  contest,  under  the  auspices  of  Washington, 
forever  freed  our  necks  from  the  yoke  of  foreign  political 
supremacy.  After  the  peace,  the  incompetency  of  the 
confederation,  and  the  evident  tendency  towards  anarchy 
in  the  several  states,  produced  a  reaction  in  favor  of  the 
British  system,  which,  while  the  war  was  raging,  had 
fallen  into  disrepute.  The  British  constitution  was  held 
up  as  as  the  only  model,  and  the  perfect  model,  of  a  free 
government.  A  leading  whig  of  those  times,  a  more 
consistent,  not  to  say  more  honest  whig  than  any  of  the 
present  day,  proposed  an  executive  for  life,  to  have  the 
power  of  nominating  the  governors  of  the  different  states, 
with  a  senate  during  good  behavior,  in  effect  for  life,  as 
conservative  institutions  to  counterbalance  the  democratic 
force  of  the  popular  impulses  that  make  themselves  felt 
in  our  government.  The  democracy  however  was  then 
•o  strong  that  not  all  the  genius  of  Hamilton,  with  the 
authority  of  the  genuine  whigs  associated  with  him,  mighty 
names  some  of  them,  could  impose  upon  the  people  a 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  347 

scheme  bearing  these  aristocratic  features.  Under  the 
mediation  of  Washington  a  compromise  was  effected. 
A  government  too  strong  for  the  fears  of  Patrick  Henry 
and  of  Jefferson,  and  many  other  sagacious,  patriotic,  and 
eminent  statesmen,  but  not  strong  enough  to  answer  the 
views  of  Hamilton,  and  the  other  admirers  of  the  British 
constitution,  was  recommended  by  the  convention,  and 
adopted  by  the  popular  suffrages.  The  crisis  was  safely 
passed,  and  the  father  of  American  freedom  was  a  second 
time  the  savior  of  his  country. 

When  on  the  twenty-first  of  February,  seventeen  hun- 
dred eighty-seven,  a  grand  committee  of  which  the  Hon. 
NATHAN  DANE  was  chairman,  reported  to  congress  their 
entire  conviction  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment under  the  old  confederation,  and  of  the  neces- 
sity of  devising  such  further  provisions  as  should  render 
the  same  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union,  and 
strongly  recommended  to  the  different  legislatures  to  send 
delegates  to  the  convention  at  Philadelphia  which  formed 
the  present  constitution,  they  not  only  felt  the  evils  to 
which  the  want  of  a  supreme  federal  head  exposed  the 
country,  while  the  bands  of  union  were  so  loose  that  we 
could  not  be  entitled  to  the  character  of  a  nation — they 
not  only  preceived  that  the  country  stood  upon  the  verge 
of  ruin ;  divided  against  itself;  all  ties  dissolved ;  all 
parties  claiming  authority  and  refusing  obedience ;  sedi- 
tion, though  intimidated,  not  disarmed  ;  ourselves  in  debt 
to  foreigners,  and  large  sums  due  internally ;  the  taxes  in 
arrears,  and  still  accumulating;  manufactures  destitute 
of  materials,  capital,  and  skill ;  agriculture  despondent ; 
commerce  bankrupt — they  not  only  saw  and  felt  all  this, 
[  say,  but  they  felt  the  imminent  danger  of  still  greater 
evils  which  as  yet  they  knew  not  of;  they  saw  the  com- 
bustibles collected ;  the  mine  prepared ;  the  smallest 
spark  capable  of  producing  an  explosion.  Their  sagaci- 
ty showed  them  in  no  distant  future  the  fearful  vision  of 
the  abyss  of  anarchy  into  which  they  must  plunge  when 
that  explosion  had  scattered  the  crazy  fabric  of  their  gov- 
ernment. Hanging  over  the  precipice,  they  gazed  into 
the  dark  recesses  beyond,  and  there  beheld  the  broken 
and  dishonored  fragments  of  a  once  glorious  union ; — 


348  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

states  dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ;  a  land  rent  with 
civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  might  be,  in  fraternal  blood. 
The  Congress  who  accepted  that  report  knew  well  that  a 
way  of  escape  must  be  found  from  the  perils  that  envi- 
roned them,  and  they  knew,  too,  that  no  other  refuge  re- 
mained than  the  possibility  of  erecting  an  efficient,  substan- 
tial and  permanent  government.  They  knew  that  a  more 
intimate  union  of  the  states  must  be  established,  or  the 
country  must  perish  :  every  ray  of  hope  that  could  light 
them  on  in  any  course  but  this  was  already  extinguished. 
When  Washington,  in  the  same  year,  consented  to  serve 
in  the  convention  called  for  that  purpose,  to  assist  in 
"  averting  the  contemptible  figure  which  the  American 
communities  were  about  to  make,  in  the  annals  of  man- 
kind, with  their  separate,  independent,  jealous,  state  sove- 
reignties," he  was  fully  aware  of  the  momentous  import 
of  the  crisis  and  of  the  appalling  weight  of  responsibility 
which  devolved  upon  the  members  of  that  body.  He 
looked  forward  to  success  in  this  final  undertaking  as  to 
a  welcome  salvation  from  the  vortex  of  ruin,  and  he  looked 
upon  the  failure  of  this  attempt,  if  it  had  issued  in  failure, 
as  upon  the  wreck  of  American  liberties  and  the  catas- 
trophe of  republican  governments  forever. 

It  needed  not  the  study  of  the  Amphyctionic  council, 
or  of  the  Achaian  league,  or  of  any  of  those  ephemeral 
alliances  which  were  continually  forming  and  dissolving 
among  the  ancient  petty  states  of  Greece,  to  impress  upon 
his  mind  the  solemn  convictipn  of  the  reality  of  the  view 
he  then  took  of  the  posture  of  our  affairs.  It  was  not 
necessary  to  explore  the  annals  of  the  German  empire,  to 
peruse  the  chronicles  of  the  unceasing  and  murderous 
struggles  of  the  Italian  republics,  to  search  the  history 
of  the  restless  cantons  of  Switzerland,  or  examine  the 
records  of  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Low  Countries, 
no,  nor  to  recur  to  any  other  unsuccessful  experiment, 
ancient  or  modern,  to  be  abundantly  satisfied  that  the 
relation  of  free  states,  bordering  on  each  other,  and  not 
restrained  by  a  common  government,  is  a  relation  of  fierce, 
relentless,  and  almost  unintermitted  warfare.  The  circum- 
stances of  the  times  exhibited  but  too  distinctly  the  pre- 
vailing tendencies;  collisions  were  becoming  every  day 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  349 

more  frequent  and  more  violent ;  the  fury  of  hostile  passions 
was  kindling  fast,  and,  with  a  little  more  fanning,  would 
have  burst  into  one  universal,  all-devouring  conflagration. 

Thanks  be  to  God,  America  was  saved.  Under  the 
guidance  of  Washington  and  his  illustrious  compeers, 
she  trod  the  path  of  safety,  and  her  progress  in  it  has 
been  a  career  of  unparalleled  prosperity  and  glory.  Her 
wise  men  erected  the  well-proportioned  edifice  of  a  na- 
tional government,  upon  which  foreign  nations  could  not 
look  but  with  respect,  under  whose  protection  the  several 
states  enjoy  securely  all  their  reserved  rights,  without  en- 
croaching upon  each  other's  privileges,  or  conflicting 
with  each  other's  interests ;  beneath  whose  friendly 
shelter  agriculture,  commerce,  and  the  arts  thrive  and 
fructify.  May  its  blessings  be  magnificent  as  its  objects, 
coextensive  with  its  influence,  and  its  duration  lasting  as 
time ;  and  when  after  a  complete  century  shall  have  rolled 
over  the  continent,  and  two  hundred  millions  of  freemen 
calling  our  language  their  mother  tongue,  shall  have  peo- 
pled, but  not  crowded,  our  vast  territory,  may  they,  as 
one  united  nation  of  brethren,  look  forward,  through  the 
distant  and  dim  perspective  of  countless  future  ages,  to 
the  blight  vision  of  coining  generations,  more  numerous, 
wiser,  happier,  and  better  than  themselves,  successively, 
to  the  end  of  time,  with  the  same  confidence  in  the  per- 
fectibility of  our  race,  and  the  same  reliance  on  the  over- 
ruling favor  of  Providence  with  which  we  now  look  for- 
ward to  their  destiny. 

Washington  not  only  burst  asunder  the  British  chain, 
but  his  wisdom  and  his  weight  of  character  introduced 
that  expedient,  our  existing  constitution,  which  averted 
the  natural  and  the  threatening  revulsion  of  British  prin- 
ciples ;  a  revulsion  which  would  have  been  absolutely 
irresistible  after  a  few  years  of  suffering  and  anarchy. 

The  constitution  was  an  expedient  which  saved  us  on 
the  one  hand  from  anarchy  and  its  miseries,  on  the  other 
hand  from  that  reaction  in  favor  of  the  high-toned  and 
aristocratic  doctrines  of  the  tohigs,  which  must  have  fol- 
lowed anarchy.  It  was  admirably  adapted — it  was  almost 
miraculously  adapted  to  its  objects,  considering  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  originated.  It  soon  became 
30 


350  THE    TRUK    AMERICAN. 

apparent  however  that  the  federal  government  was  not  to 
be  an  exception  to  the  ordinary  principles  which  regulate 
the  actions  of  ambitious  men  placed  in  situations  calcu- 
lated to  stimulate  their  ambition.  Power  is  to  ambition 
what  wealth  is  to  avarice.  Instead  of  satisfying  the  de- 
sire, it  creates  an  insatiable  craving  for  more.  The  dis- 
position of  power  to  arrogate  to  itself  more  power,  was 
exemplified  in  the  federal  government,  as  it  had  been  in 
every  other  since  the  world  began.  This  became  its  gui- 
ding and  its  governing  principle ;  opposition  to  this  was 
the  criterion  and  the  substance  of  democracy.  In  its 
course  it  swelled  and  grew  like  a  snow-ball,  till  it  accu- 
mulated to  the  magnitude,  and  moved  with  the  ponderous 
momentum  of  an  avalance. 

The  democratic  party  includes  both  rich  and  poor, 
learned  and  unlearned,  those  endowed  with  genius,  and 
those  unblessed  by  nature ;  but  its  greatest  strength  re- 
sides in  what  is  often  called  the  middling  interest,  and 
especially  in  the  substantial  yeomanry  of  the  country,  for 
they  have  seldom  any  interest  adverse  to  the  common  good 
of  all.  Democracy  is  the  party  of  equal  rights,  equal 
laws,  equal  privileges,  universal  protection.  Its  founda- 
tion rests  upon  eternal  principles  of  equity  and  justice 
Its  creed  is  in  the  ordination  of  Providence,  the  consti- 
tution of  nature,  and  the  wisdom  of  revelation.  It  has 
their  common  sanction,  and  therefore  is  not  troubled  with 
doubts  or  misgivings.  Its  policy  is  honesty,  and  its  coun- 
sellors are  common  sense  and  an  enlightened  conscience. 
It  has  no  partialities.  It  neither  plunders  the  rich,  nor 
oppresses  the  poor.  It  does  not  reserve  its  smiles  for  the 
fortunate,  nor  its  frowns  for  the  unhappy  ;  nor  does  it 
look  with  envy  on  success  or  merit,  or  pass  by  with  cold 
indifference  the  helpless  and  abject,  but  its  eympathies  are 
for  all,  wide  as  the  world,  and  liberal  as  the  sun.  It 
rather  reveres  those  sacred  axioms  of  immutable  right 
which  our  fathers  embodied  in  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, and  in  the  articles  prefixed  to  our  constitution, 
and  which  form  the  best  inheritance  they  have  left  us, 
than  blindly  follows  them  in  any  errors  of  their  conduct 
wherein  they  forgot  or  violated  those  axioms.  It  admires 
and  participates  largely  in  those  bold  efforts  for  improve- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOtfNG    MEN.  351 

meat  which  characterise  our  times,  but  it  is  not  blown 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  It  neither  worships  a 
venerable  abuse  because  it  is  old,  nor  is  carried  away 
with  every  wild  project  of  innovation  because  it  is  new. 
But  it  moves  steadily  on  in  its  beneficent  course  of  pru- 
dent, judicious,  well-considered  reform. 

The  fundamental  article  of  the  democratic  creed  is  this ; 
that  the  general  government  ought  to  be  strictly  confined 
within  its  proper  sphere.  In  the  words  of  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, taken  from  an  official  opinion  drawn  up  by  him 
while  secretary  of  state,  they  "  consider  the  foundation 
of  the  constitution  as  laid  on  this  ground,  that  all  powers 
not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the 
states  or  to  the  people.  To  take  a  single  step  beyond 
the  boundaries  thus  drawn  around  the  powers  of  Con- 
gress is  to  take  possession  of  a  boundless  field  of  power, 
no  longer  susceptible  of  any  definition." 

Congress  overstepped  these  boundaries  in  1791,  by  the 
charter  of  the  bank,  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  opposition 
of  the  republicans  of  that  day,  with  Jefferson  and  Madi- 
son at  their  head.  Hamilton,  the  most  ardent  admirer  of 
the  British  constitution,  then  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
aimed  to  place  that  department  "  in  such  an  attitude  as  to 
command  the  whole  action  of  the  government."  He  be- 
lieved that  mankind  could  be  governed  only  in  two  ways, 
by  force  or  by  corruption.  Force  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion here,  of  course  corruption  was  the  only  alternative. 
Sir  Robert  Walpole,  the  most  distinguished  whig  minis- 
ter of  Great  Britain,  while  first  lord  of  the  treasury  and 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  has  the  credit  of  having  ori- 
ginally introduced  this  system  of  government,  which  has 
been  characteristic  of  the  whig  party  ever  since,  wherever 
it  has  been  in  power,  with  means  at  its  disposal.  "  For 
self-defence,  where  argument  failed,"  says  his  biographer, 
"  he  had  recourse  to  the  more  powerful  influence  of  cor- 
ruption ;  and  this  latter  mode  of  conviction,  which  he  not 
only  practised  from  necessity,  but  systematically  vindica- 
ted and  recommended,  gave  a  distinguishing  character  to 
his  administration,  and  entailed  reproach  on  his  memory." 
It  must  be  allowed  that  the  bank  party  in  the  United 


352  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

States  are  richly  entitled  to  be  considered  legitimate  fol- 
lowers of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  whose  maxim  was,  that 
"  every  man  has  his  price,"  and  so  far  at  least  they  have 
a  right  to  the  appellation  of  whigs — being  not  only  admi- 
rers of  the  British  constitution  in  theory,  but  admirers 
and  imitators  of  its  practical  operation,  under  the  most 
celebrated  of  whig  administrations. 

Having  once  overstepped  the  boundaries  of  the  consti- 
tution in  the  creation  of  a  bank,  the  government  by  de- 
grees went  on  to  take  possession  of  that  boundless  field 
of  power,  no  longer  susceptible  of  any  definition,  which 
was  thus  opened  to  them.  The  obstinate  resistance  of 
the  democratic  party  could  not  prevent  such  legislative 
constructions  of  the  constitution,  as  made  it  a  very  differ- 
ent thing  from  what  the  people  thought  they  had  submit- 
ted to.  Those  sweeping  powers  which  Hamilton  and  his 
friends  had  sought  in  vain  to  incorporate  into  the  consti- 
tution were  extorted  from  it  by  virtue  of  the  doctrine  of 
implication.  It  was  tortured  into  any  shape  that  might 
sujt  their  purposes.  "  Legislative  explanations,"  says 
Jefferson,  "  were  given  to  the  constitution,  and  all  the  ad- 
ministrative laws  were  shaped  on  the  model  of  England, 
and  so  passed."  The  alien  and  sedition  laws,  the  muzzling 
of  the  press,  the  unrelenting  proscription  for  opinion's 
sake,  made  that  period  emphatically  the  reign  of  terror. 

The  bone  and  muscle  of  the  nation,  the  hope  and 
strength  of  the  people  were  roused  at  last,  and  took  the 
power  into  their  own  hands.  They  perceived  that  it  was 
their  own  quarrel  which  was  to  be  fought  out  against  the 
lovers  of  power  and  wealth,  who  were  fast  monopolizing 
both,  to  the  imminent  danger  of  the  general  freedom. 
They  rallied  therefore  under  the  early  and  inflexible 
champions  of  the  democracy  ;  truth  and  reason  were  the 
weapons  they  employed  ;  union  gave  them  strength,  and 
the  aristocracy  was  prostrated  before  them.  The  immor- 
tal Jefferson  was  seated  at  the  helm  of  state,  and  at  once 
"  restored  the  government  to  the  republican  tack." 

Mr.  Jefferson  disallowed  the  binding  force  of  British 
precedents,  and  undertook  to  conduct  the  government 
upon  American  principles.  His  untiring  efforts  through 
the  eight  years  of  his  presidency  did  much  towards  carrying 


ADDRESS   TO   YOUNG   MEN.  353 

back  the  administration  to  its  original,  constitutiona.  sim- 
plicity, and  to  accommodate  our  institutions,  which  had 
begun  to  be  warped  after  a  foreign  model,  to  our  own 
situation,  character,  and  circumstances.  It  was  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  return  to  the  primitive  purity  of  our  sys- 
tem, however,  so  strongly  had  the  British  virus  impregna- 
ted the  whole  body.  He  did  what  could  be  done,  but  to 
complete  the  work  was  reserved  for  his  more  fortunate 
successor.  The  constitution  had  been  deeply  violated, 
but  the  violation  could  not  at  that  time  be  redressed.  Mr. 
Jefferson  had  given  his  written  opinion  on  the  fifteenth 
of  February,  1791,  that  "  the  incorporation  of  a  bank, 
and  the  powers  assumed  by  this  bill,  have  not,  in  my  opi- 
nion, been  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  consti- 
tution." He  might  have  stated  this  as  a  fact,  for  while 
the  bank  bill  was  under  discussion,  Judge  Wilson  was  re- 
minded by  Mr.  Baldwin  of  the  following  occurrences  in 
the  grand  convention.  Among  the  powers  enumerated 
in  the  draft  of  the  constitution,  was  that  to  erect  corpora- 
tions. On  debate,  it  was  stricken  out.  Particular  pow- 
ers were  then  proposed  ;  among  others,  that  to  establish 
a  NATIONAL  BANK.  This  was  opposed  and  RE- 
JECTED. Judge  Wilson  admitted  the  correctness  of  this 
statement,  which  is  now  well  known  from  other  sources. 

The  late  lamented  Mr.  Madison  concluded  his  speech 
against  the  bank,  in  1791,  by  remarking,  that  the  power 
exercised  by  the  bill  then  pending,  was 

"  Condemned  by  the  silence  of  the  constitution. 

"Condemned  by  the  rule  of  interpretation  arising  out 
of  the  constitntion. 

"  Condemned  by  its  tendency  to  destroy  the  main  cha- 
racteristic of  the  constitution. 

"  Condemned  by  the  expositions  of  the  friends  of  the 
constitution,  whilst  depending  before  the  public. 

"  Condemned  by  the  apparent  intention  of  the  parties 
which  ratified  the  constitution. 

"  Condemned  by  the  explanatory  amendments  proposed 
by  Congress  themselves  to  the  constitution." 

That  such  a  power,  loaded  with  such  condemnation, 
should,  notwithstanding,  have  been  usurped  and  exer- 
cised, was  enough  to  introduce  a  rooted  and  general  cor- 
30* 


354  THE    TRUE    AMEBICAN. 

ruption  which  could  not  be  removed  until  the  cause  was 
eradicated.  Mr.  Randolph,  in  1824,  after  speaking  of 
the  "  vagrant  power"  to  charter  the  bank,  "  seeking 
through  the  different  clauses  of  the  constitution  where  to 
fix  itself,"  and  the  vagrant  power  of  internal  improve- 
ments, "  after  being  whipt  from  parish  to  parish,  at  last 
seeking  a  settlement  under  the  war-making  power" — in 
the  same  speech  in  which  he  asserted  that  a  new  sect  had 
arisen,  who,  in  their  latitudinarian  constructions  of  the 
constitution,  as  far  transcended  Alexander  Hamilton  and 
his  disciples,  as  they  transcended  Thomas  Jefferson,  James 
Madison,  and  John  Taylor  of  Caroline — attributed  all 
those  loose  interpretations  of  the  constitution  which  favor 
consolidation,  to  the  establishment  of  the  banking  pow- 
er, as  their  original  source.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  when  I 
consider  this  war-making  power,  and  this  money-making 
power,  and  suffer  myself  to  reflect  on  the  length  to  which 
they  go,  I  feel  ready  to  acknowledge  that  in  yielding 
these,  the  states  have  yielded  every  thing.  The  last  words 
of  Patrick  Henry  on  this  subject,  although  uttered  five 
and  twenty  years  ago,  are  now  ringing  in  my  ears.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  all  the  difficulties  under  which  we  have 
labored,  and  now  labor,  on  this  subject,  have  grown  out 
of  a  fatal  admission,  by  one  of  the  late  Presidents  of  the 
United  States,  which  gave  a  sanction  to  the  principle, 
that  this  government  had  the  power  to  charter  the  present 
colossal  Bank  of  the  United  States." 

The  unconstitutional,  anti-American,  and  strictly  Brit- 
ish character  of  such  an  institution  was  attested,  as  long 
ago  as  eighteen  hundred  and  eleven,  by  Henry  Clay,  whom 
\ve  may,  fairly  offer  as  an  unexceptionable  witness  against 
the  consolidationists,  the  British,  or  whig  party.  "  When 
gentlemen  attempt  to  carry  this  measure  on  the  ground 
of  acquiescence  or  precedent,"  said  Mr.  Clay  in  his  speech 
against  the  recharter  of  the  old  bank,  "  DO  THEY  FOR- 
GET THAT  WE  ARE  NOT  IN  WESTMINSTER 
HALL?" 

"  To  legislate  upon  the  ground  merely  that  our  prede- 
cessors thouglit  themselves  authorized,  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances to  legislate,  is  TO  SANCTIFY  ERROR 
AND  PERPETUATE  USURPATION." 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  355 

"  The  great  advantage  of  our  system  of  government 
over  all  others  is,  that  we  have  a  written  constitution  de- 
fining its  limits,  and  prescribing  its  authorities,  and  that, 
HOWEVER  FOR  A  TIME,  FACTION  MAY  CON- 
VULSE THE  NATION,  and  passion  and  party  preju- 
dice sway  its  functionaries,  the  season  of  reflection  will 
recur,  when  calmly  retracing  their  deeds,  all  aberrations 
from  fundamental  principles  will  be  corrected.  But  once 
substitute  practice  for  principle,  the  exposition  of  the 
constitution  for  the  text  of  the  constitution,  and  in  vain 
shall  we  look  for  the  instrument  itself!  IT  WILL  BE 
AS  DIFFUSED  AND  INTANGIBLE  AS  THE 
PRETENDED  CONSTITUTION  OF  ENGLAND." 

"What  would  be  our  condition  if  we  were  to  take  the 
interpretations  given  to  that  sacred  book,  which  is  or 
ought  to  be  the  criterion  of  our  faith,  for  the  book  itself? 
We  should  find  the  Holy  Bible  buried  beneath  the  inter- 
pretations, glossaries  and  comments  of  councils,  synods, 
and  learned  divines,  which  have  produced  swarms  of  in- 
tolerant and  furious  sects,  partaking  less  of  the  mildness 
and  meekness  of  their  origin,  than  of  a  vindictive  spirit 
of  hostility  towards  each  other.  They  ought  to  afford  us 
a  solemn  warning  to  make  that  constitution  which  we 
have  sworn  to  support  our  invariable  guide.  I  conceive 
then,  sir,  that  WE  ARE  NOT  EMPOWERED  BY  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION, NOR  BOUND  BY  ANY  PRACTICE  UNDER  IT,  TO 
RENEW  THE  CHARTER  OF  THIS  BANK." 

Mr.  Clay  believed  the  bank  to  be,  not  only  British  in 
principle,  but  identified  with  British  interests. 

"  May  not  the  time  arrive,"  he  asks,  "  when  the  con- 
centration of  such  a  vast  portion  of  the  circulating  me- 
dium of  the  country  in  the  hands  of  any  corporation, 
will  be  DANGEROUS  TO  OUR  LIBERTIES?  By 
whom  is  this  immense  power  wielded  ?  By  a  body  who, 
in  derogation  of  the  great  principle  of  all  our  institu- 
tions, responsibility  to  the  people,  is  amenable  to  a  few 
stockholders,  and  they  CHIEFLY  FOREIGNERS.  Suppose 
an  attempt  to  subvert  this  government,  would  not  the 
traitor  first  aim,  by  force  or  corruption,  to  acquire  the 
treasure  of  this  company  ?  Look  at  it  in  another  aspect. 
Seven  tenths  of  its  capital  are  in  the  hands  of  foreigners, 


856  THE   TRLTE    AMERICAN. 

chiefly  British  subjects.  We  are  possibly  on  the  ere  of 
a  rupture  with  that  nation.  Should  such  an  event  occur, 
DO  YOU  APPREHEND  THAT  THE  ENGLISH 
PREMIER  WOULD  EXPERIENCE  ANY  DIFFI- 
CULTY IN  OBTAINING  THE  ENTIRE  CON- 
TROL OF  THIS  INSTITUTION?" 

"Go  to  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  see  what 
has  been  achieved  for  us  there,  by  Englishmen,  holding 
seven  tenths  of  the  capital  of  this  bank.  Has  it  released 
from  galling  and  ignominious  bondage  one  solitary  Ame- 
ican  seaman,  bleeding  under  British  oppression  ?  Did  it 
prevent  the  unmanly  attack  upon  the  Chesapeake?" 

"  Are  we  quite  sure  that  on  this  side  of  the  water,  it 
has  had  no  effect  favorable  to  British  interests  ?  It  has 
often  been  stated,  and  although  I  do  not  know  that  it  is 
susceptible  of  strict  proof,  I  believe  it  to  be  a  fact,  that 
this  bank  exercised  its  influence  in  support  of  Jay's  trea- 
ty, and  may  it  not  have  contributed  to  blunt  the  public 
sentiment,  or  paralyze  the  efforts  of  this  nation  against 
British  aggression?" 

"  The  duke  of  Northumberland  is  said  to  be  the  most 
considerable  stockholder  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,"  &e. 

Mr.  Clay,  of  course,  considered  it  to  be  his  imperative 
duty  to  oppose  with  his  whole  powers  the  perpetuation  of 
such  an  usurpation.  He  did  not  forget  that  he  was  not 
in  Westminster  Hall.  "  I  felt  myself  bound,"  said  he, 
"to  obey  the  paramount  duties  I  owe  my  country  and  its 
constitution  ;  to  make  one  effort,  however  feeble,  to  avert 
the  passage  of  what  appears  to  me  a  most  unjustifiable 
law." 

"  The  power  to  charter  companies  is  not  specified  in 
the  grant,  and  I  contend,  is  of  a  nature  not  transferable 
by  mere  implication.  It  is  one  of  the  most  exalted  attri- 
butes of  sovereignty.  In  the  exercise  of  this  gigantic 
power,  we  have  seen  an  East  India  Company  created, 
which  has  carried  dismay,  desolation,  and  death,  through- 
out one  of  the  largest  portions  of  the  habitable  world." 

"  Is  it  to  be  imagined  that  a  power  so  vast  would  have 
been  left  by  the  wisdom  of  the  constitution  to  doubtful 
inference  ?" 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  357 

"  The  question  is,  shall  we  stretch  the  instrument  to 
embrace  cases  not  fairly  within  its  scope  1" 

The  instrument  having  been  thus  perverted  in  1791,  it 
was  impossible  for  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  those  with  whom  he 
acted,  to  restore  it  in  1801  ;  for  had  they  undertaken  to 
revoke  the  charter  of  the  bank,  Mr.  Clay  has  told  us  what 
would  have  been  the  consequence.  "  The  judiciary  would 
have  been  appealed  to,  and  from  the  known  opinions  and 
predilections  of  the  judges  then  composing  it,  they  would 
have  pronounced  the  act  of  incorporation,  as  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  contract,  beyond  the  repealing  power  of  any 
succeeding  legislature." 

Although  the  bank  expired  at  the  expiration  of  its 
charter,  in  1811,  yet  it  revived,  with  augmented  power, 
in  1816  ;  and  it  was  left  for  Andrew  Jackson  to  fight  the 
great  battle  for  the  constitution,  and  decisively  to  vindi- 
cate its  supremacy.  He  settled  the  question  of  the  bank 
charter,  upon  American  principles,  by  his  veto  message 
of  July  10,  1832.  In  that  immortal  document,  which 
prostrated  the  moneyed  power,  our  children,  and  our  chil- 
dren's children,  will  read  the  fundamental  maxims  of  a 
genuine,  republican  policy.  It  contributed  much  towards 
the  consummation  of  our  independence,  that  statesman- 
ship, such  as  that  paper  displays,  should  grapple  with  a 
death-grasp  the  first,  the  last,  the  greatest  and  the  worst 
of  those  innovations,  of  foreign  origin  and  uncongenial 
to  our  institutions,  which  had  fastened  themselves  with 
pernicious'influence,  upon  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  our 
government.  Let  us  recur  to  the  closing  paragraphs. 

"It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  rich  and  powerful  too 
often  bend  the  acts  of  government  to  their  selfish  purpo- 
ses. Distinctions  in  society  will  always  exist  under  every 
just  government.  Equality  of  talents,  of  education,  or  of 
wealth,  cannot,  be  produced  by  human  institutions.  In 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  gifts  of  Heaven,  and  the  fruits 
of  superior  industry,  economy,  and  virtue,  every  man  is 
equally  entitled  to  protection  by  law.  But  when  the  laws 
undertake  to  add  to  these  natural  and  just  advantages, 
artificial  distinctions,  to  grant  titles,  gratuities,  and  ex- 
clusive privileges,  to  make  the  rich  richer,  and  the  potent 
more  powerful,  the  humble  members  of  society,  the  farm- 


THE    TBUE    AMERICAN. 

ers,  mechanics,  and  laborers,  who  have  neither  the  time 
nor  the  means  of  securing  like  favors  to  themselves,  have 
a  right  to  complain  of  the  injustice  of  their  government." 

"  There  are  no  necessary  evils  in  government.  Its 
evils  exist  only  in  its  abuses.  If  it  would  confine  itself 
to  equal  protection,  and,  as  Heaven  does  its  rains,  shower 
its  favors  alike  on  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  it  would  be  an  unqualified  blessing.  In  the  act  be- 
fore me,  there  seems  to  me  a  wide  and  unnecessary  de- 
parture from  these  just  principles.  Nor  is  our  govern- 
ment to  be  maintained,  or  our  Union  to  be  preserved, 
by  invasions  of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  several 
states.  In  thus  attempting  to  make  our  general  government 
strong,  we  make  it  weak.  ITS  TRUE  STRENGTH 
CONSISTS  IN  LEAVING  INDIVIDUALS  AND 
STATES  AS  MUCH  AS  POSSIBLE  TO  THEM- 
SELVES— in  making  itself  felt  not  in  its  power,  but  in 
its  beneficence,  not  in  its  control,  but  in  its  protection, 
not  in  binding  the  states  more  closely  to  the  centre,  but 
leaving  each  to  move  unobstructed  in  its  proper  orbit." 

"  Experience  should  teach  us  wisdom.  Most  of  the 
difficulties  our  government  now  encounters,  and  most  of 
the  dangers  which  impend  over  our  Unjon,  have  sprung 
from  an  abandonment  of  the  legitimate  objects  of  govern- 
ment, by  our  national  legislation,  and  the  adoption  of  such 
principles  as  are  embodied  in  this  act.  Many  of  our  rich 
men  have  not  been  content  with  equal  protection  and 
equal  benefits,  but  have  besought  us  to  make  them  richer 
by  acts  of  Congress.  By  attempting  to  gratify  their  de- 
sires, we  have  in  the  results  of  our  legislation,  ARRAYED 

SECTION  AGAINST  SECTION,  INTEREST  AGAINST  INTEREST, 
AND  MAN  AGAINST  MAN,  IN  A  FEARFUL  COMMOTION,  WHICH 
THREATENS  TO  SHAKE  THE  FOUNDATIONS  OF  OUR  UNION. 

If  we  cannot  at  once  in  justice  to  interests  vested  under 
improvident  legislation,  make  our  government  what  it 
ought  to  be,  we  can  at.  least  take  a  stand  against  all  new 
grants  of  monopolies,  and  exclusive  privileges,  against 
any  prostitution  of  our  government,  to  the  advancement 
of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many,  and  in  favor  of 
compromise  and  gradual  reform  in  our  code  of  laws  and 
system  of  political  economy." 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  359 

By  doctrines  such  as  these,  our  illustrious  President, 
while  perfecting  the  independence  of  his  country  from 
foreign  influence  and  foreign  example,  naturally  earned 
for  himself  the  hatred  of  our  British,  or  whig  party,  who 
still  answer  to  the  description  given  of  them  in  their  prin- 
cipal organ  ji  the  old  world,  the  Edinburgh  Review, 
"THE  STRENGTH  OF  THE  WHIGS  LAY  IN 
THE  GREAT  ARISTOCRACY,  IN  THE  COR- 
PORATIONS, AND  IN  THE  TRADING  OR  MO- 
NEYED INTERESTS."  But  how  could  they  expect 
to  bend  from  his  purpose,  by  exhibitions  of  their  futile 
wrath,  the  man  who  discomfited  their  allies  at  New  Or- 
leans? They  should  have  remembered  the  assurance 
given  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  "  Andrew  Jackson  is  a  clear- 
headed, strong-minded  man,  and  HAS  MORE  OF  THE 
ROMAN  IN  HIM  THAN  ANY  OTHER  MAN 
NOW  LIVING."  They  should  have  remembered  that 
it  was  to  him  alone  that  Jefferson  looked  to  finish  this 
very  work  which  he  had  begun,  the  restoration  to  the 
states  and  people,  of  powers  not  granted  to  the  federal 
government  by  the  constitution.  "  It  is  fortunate,"  said 
the  patriarch  of  democracy, — "  it  is  fortunate  for  the  coun- 
try, that  General  Jackson  is  likely  to  be  fit  for  public  life 
at  the  end  of  the  present  four  years,  (from  1825;)  for  in 
him  is  the  only  hope  left  of  avoiding  the  dangers  mani- 
festly about  to  arise  out  of  the  broad  construction  now 
again  given  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  which 
effaces  all  limitations  of  power,  and  leaves  the  general 
government,  by  theory,  altogether  unrestrained."  They 
should  have  remembered  the  character  ascribed  to  him  by 
James  Monroe,  "  a  man  fit  for  any  emergency  ;  a  states- 
man, cool  and  dispassionate ;  a  soldier,  terrible  in  battle, 
and  mild  in  victory  ;  a  patriot  whose  bosom  swelled  with 
the  love  of  country  ;  in  fine,  a  man  whose  like  we  shall 
scarce  look  upon  again."  They  should  have  remembered 
that  from  the  path  of  duty,  he  never  turned  aside ;  for  this 
they  knew,  not  only  from  his  history,  but  from  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Massachusetts  statesman,  John  Q,uincy  Ad- 
ams. "  General  Jackson  justly  enjoys  in  an  eminent  de- 
gree the  public  favor,"  said  the  late  President ;  "  and  of 
his  worth,  talents,  and  services,  no  one  entertains  a  higjier 


360  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

or  more  respectable  opinion,  than  myself."  "  An  officer 
whose  services  entitle  him  to  the  highest  rewards,  and 
whose  whole  career  has  been  signalized  by  the  purest  in- 
tentions, and  most  elevated  purposes."  They  should  have 
remembered  that  so  unquestionable  were  these  virtues  as 
to  extort  from  an  envious  rival,  Henry  Clay,  professions 
of  admiration.  "  Towards  that  distinguished  captain, 
who  has  shed  so  much  glory  on  our  country,  whose  re- 
nown constitutes  so  great  a  portion  of  its  moral  property, 
I  never  had,"  said  the  western  orator,  "  I  never  can  have, 
any  other  feelings  than  those  of  profound  respect,  and  of 
the  utmost  kindness."  They  should  have  remembered, 
that,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  a  senator  in  Congress,  when  the 
latitudinarian  expositions  of  the  federalists  were  breaking 
down  the  landmarks  of  the  constitution,  and  consolida- 
ting the  states  into  one  sovereignty,  Andrew  Jackson  was 
found  on  the  side  of  those  republican  principles  peculiar 
to  America,  and  essential  to  her  liberty  ;  and  that  ever 
since  that  time  he  has  been  a  firm,  consistent,  and  unwa- 
vering democrat ;  and  then  they  could  never  have  doubt- 
ed that  the  anticipations  of  Mr.  Jefferson  would  be  real- 
ized, that  the  fate  of  the  bank  was  sealed  by  his  election, 
and  that  the  renovation  of  the  constitution  was  to  be  the 
last  herculean  task  of  Andrew  Jackson.  The  task  was 
his,  and  he  was  equal  to  its  accomplishment. 

This  brave  and  wise  old  man,  whom  king-loathed  Co- 
lumbia has  so  long  delighted  to  honor,  has  reached  the 
goal  at  which  his  patriotic  labors  terminate.  Having 
filled  full  the  measure  of  his  country's  glory,  covered  with 
the  laurels  of  martial  and  of  civic  triumph,  rich  in  the 
gratitude  of  millions  redeemed  from  the  scourge  of  mo- 
nopoly, and  cheered  by  the  hope  that  the  blessings  he  has 
won  for  his  country  may  be  perpetual  as  the  love  of  free- 
dom in  the  hearts  of  Americans,  there  is  still  in  store  for 
him  a  higher  and  purer  enjoyment  than  any  of  these. 
When  his  long  career  of  public  duty  has  been  finished, 
and  he  seeks  the  peaceful  Hermitage,  to  dedicate  to  need- 
ed and  wished-for  repose  the  evening  of  his  days,  with 
what  tranquil  satisfaction  may  he  look  back  upon  the 
many,  the  weighty,  and  the  lasting  services,  which  a  be*- 
nignant  Providence  has  made  him  the  chosen  instrument 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  361 

to  render  to  this  Heaven-protected  nation !  With  what 
delightful  consciousness  may  he  reflect  upon  the  faithful 
performance  of  the  vast  obligations  devolving  on  such  a 
man,  upon  the  good  use  which  he  has  made  of  the  many 
talents  wherewith  God  has  gifted  him,  upon  the  large 
part  allotted  to  him,  in  the  wide  sphere  of  action  in 
which  he  has  moved,  done — all  done — and  well  done ! 
Fortunate  soldier,  statesman,  patriot,  and  philanthropist ! 
You  have  defended  our  soil  from  invasion,  restored  our 
violated  constitution,  disarmed  and  prostrated  the  most 
dangerous  foe  of  our  liberties,  brought  a  whole  great 
people  by  your  judicious  policy  into  a  palmy  state  of 
prosperity  never  known  before,  and  by  the  successful  is- 
sue of  an  honest  and  straight-forward  course  of  plain 
dealing,  have  demonstrated  to  mankind  that  the  same 
principles  of  morality  and  honor  may  govern,  and  ought 
to  govern,  the  intercourse  of  nations,  which  regulate  and 
dictate  our  conduct  in  our  individual  relations.  The 
bright  example  of  the  republic  over  which  you  preside 
has  penetrated  the  darkness  that  so  long  has  brooded  over 
the  old  world.  It  towers  and  glows,  refulgent  and  beau- 
tiful, a  beacon-light  to  the  tempest-tost  pilgrims  of  liberty, 
kindled  late,  but  shining  far  through  the  pervading  gloom 
of  transatlantic  tyranny,  reviving  dying  hope  even  in  the 
bosom  of  despair.  Self-government  is  no  longer  a  vi- 
sionary dream.  Republics  no  longer  tend  irresistibly  to 
consolidation  and  despotism.  A  truly  Roman  energy 
has  thwarted  and  turned  back  that  tendency,  and  has  re- 
instated the  constitution  in  its  primitive  purity,  with  its 
original  vigor,  but  without  the  superadded  and  unnatural 
impetus  which  would  have  drawn  every  thing  into  its  vor- 
tex, or  else  have  torn  it  asunder  by  the  increasing  violence 
of  its  own  motions. 

Through  what  a  series  of  toils,  and  perils,  and  vicissi- 
tudes have  you  reached  the  crowning  period  of  your  life, 
when  your  opposers  looked  up  to  you,  with  the  same  con- 
fidence as  your  friends,  to  vindicate,  as  you  always  have 
vindicated,  and  always  will  vindicate,  our  insulted  honor. 
The  country  knew  that  its  honor  was  safe,  for  it  remem- 
bered your  declaration,  "  the  honor  of  my  country  shall 
never  be  tarnished  in  my  hands,"  and  it  had  the  sure 
31 


362  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

guaranty  of  your  life  and  character  before  that  emphatic 
sentence  was  uttered.  The  almost  unanimous  election 
which  placed  you  for  a  second  term  in  the  presidential 
chair,  has  been  followed  by  an  approbation  of  your  ad- 
ministration, and  in  your  retirement  from  office  you  re- 
ceive that  universal  respect  and  affection,  of  which  the 
world  has  seen  but  one  illustrious  instance,  in  the  person 
of  your  earliest  predecessor. 

Fortunate  to  have  run  this  unexampled,  this  wonderful 
career  !  beyond  the  eight  hundred  millions  of  your  con- 
temporaries most  fortunate  !  Fortunate  beyond  compari- 
son in  the  varied  annals  of  history  !  beyond  comparison 
save  one,  for  between  Jackson  and  Washington  how  close 
is  the  parallel. 

To  the  heroes  of  the  first  and  second  war  of  independ- 
ence, it  was  equally  objected,  that  their  early  education 
had  been  in  some  degree  defective.  As  if  every  man  of 
genius  did  not  educate  himself,  in  maturer  life,  for  what- 
ever of  duty  devolved  upon  him  ;  as  if  both  were  not  well 
versed  in  practical  politics,  familiar  with  public  affairs  as 
with  the  air  they  breathed ;  and  as  if  that  were  not  a  well- 
known  truth  which  the  elder  Adams  remarked  in  his 
Defence  of  the  American  Constitutions,  "  Knowledge  is 
by  no  means  necessarily  connected  with  wisdom  or  vir- 
tue." But  these  charges  had  little  weight  with  the  sober 
sense  of  the  American  people,  who  formed  a  correct 
estimate  of  the  genius  of  each,  notwithstanding  the  efforts 
of  their  revilers. 

That  Washington  was  what  is  called  a  self-made  man, 
is  well  known  to  us  all,  yet  Washington  was  pronounced 
by  Patrick  Henry,  on  his  return  from  Congress  in  1774, 
to  be  the  greatest  man  for  information  and  judgment  in 
that  body.  That  Jackson  has  been  emphatically  the  arti- 
ficer of  his  own  fortunes  is  equally  undeniable.  He  has 
built  up  his  enviable  and  surpassing  fame,  not  by  the  aid 
of  family  connections,  hereditary  wealth,  or  favorable 
opportunities  ;  but  in  despite  of  adverse  circumstances, 
and  inveterate  opposition.  The  man  in  abuse  of  whom 
the  powers  of  language  have  been  daily  exhausted,  for 
some  years ;  on  whom  has  been  lavished,  without  stint, 
the  whole  vocabulary  of  envy,  wrath,  malice,  and  all  un- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  363 

charitableness,  having  been  honored  with  the  confidence 
of  every  President,  from  Washington  down  to  his  own 
immediate  predecessor,  has  three  times  received  far  the 
largest  number  of  votes  for  the  highest  office  in  the  gift 
of  the  people ;  and  has  twice  been  called,  by  an  over- 
whelming majority  of  suffrages,  to  fill  the  presidential 
chair,  thereby  evincing  that  he  possessed  "  the  unbound- 
ed confidence  and  expectation  of  the  nation,"  of  which 
the  ballot  box  is  the  only  sure  test. 

By  his  own  unaided  merit  has  he  risen  to  that  broad 
eminence.  Having  seen  his  only  brother  perish  by  the 
cruelty  of  the  enemy,  in  the  war  of  the  revolution,  and 
his  broken-hearted  mother  follow  her  son  to  the  grave,  he 
went  alone,  friendless  and  pennyless,  from  his  native  state 
to  Tennessee,  where  he  had  not  a  single  blood  relation, 
and  when  scarcely  more  than  a  boy,  we  find  him  selected 
to  assist  in  framing  a  constitution  for  that  state,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  first  legislature  of  Tennessee^;  selected  by 
Washington,  endowed  like  himself  with  a  wonderful  sa- 
gacity in  the  discrimination  of  character,  for  the  re- 
sponsible office  of  district  attorney;  soon  after  delegated 
among  the  first  representatives  in  Congress  from  the  state 
of  Tennessee,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  constitutionally  eli- 
gible, being  only  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  placed  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  This  post  he  soon  after  re- 
signed, but  he  could  not  be  suffered  to  remain  in  retire- 
ment, and  he  was  almost  immediately  appointed  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state. 

In  this  early  and  rapid  promotion  of  a  friendless  stran- 
ger, we  may  see  the  evidence  of  talents  for  civil  service, 
for  he  was  not  yet  a  military  chieftain ;  and  it  was  the 
ability  evinced  in  these  situations,  which  led,  no  doubt, 
to  his  military  appointment  during  this  period  as  major- 
general,  commanding  the  militia  of  Tennessee,  and  af- 
terwards to  be  major-general  in  the  United  States  service. 

In  times  of  extreme  difficulty  and  imminent  danger, 
if  there  be  among  the  citizens  a  spirit  cast  in  nature's 
noblest  mould,  and  fully  equal  to  the  exigency,  the  coun- 
try turns  her  eyes  at  once  to  him.  History  has  recorded 
how  Washington  was  summoned  by  the  spontaneous  voice 
of  the  people  to  conduct  to  an  honorable  close  the  war 


S64  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  the  revolution.  His  accomplishment  of  the  trust 
justified  their  confidence,  and  crowned  his  fame  with  lau- 
rels which  time  cannot  wither.  So  it  was,  within  our 
memory,  with  our  own  Jackson. 

The  youth  who  had  discharged  with  honor  the  import- 
ant trusts  enumerated,  was  destined  to  be  recalled  from 
the  retirement  which  he  loved,  and  which  he  had  sought, 
to  perform  for  his  country  services  both  civil  and  milita- 
ry, which  were  essential  to  her  salvation,  and  which  per- 
haps no  other  man  in  the  nation  could  have  performed. 
Governor  Brooks,  a  staunch  federalist  as  he  was,  but  a 
soldier  and  a  man  of  honor,  whatever  might  be  his  im- 
pressions of  the  commencement  of  the  war,  surrender- 
ing party  bigotry  to  honest  national  pride,  frankly  ac- 
knowledged, "  that  it  terminated  gloriously.  "  Both 
branches  of  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts — ay,  FED- 
ERAL MASSACHUSETTS— voted  the  thanks  of  the 
commonwealth  to  the  successful  general,  a  testimony  no 
less  creditable  to  themselves  than  to  him. 

A  vast  plan  of  invasion  sketched  by  military  genius,  and 
begun  to  be  executed  with  a  boldness  that  did  not  dream 
of  defeat,  by  solid  columns  of  picked  men,  from  the  vete- 
rans of  more  than  twenty  years'  warfare ;  officered  by  the 
flower  of  British  chivalry ;  led  by  generals  of  undoubted 
talent,  tried  valor,  and  consummate  skill ;  trained  to  con- 
quer, and  exulting  in  their  anticipated  success,  on  the 
eighth  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifteen,  receiv- 
ed from  Andrew  Jackson's  arm  its  fatal  check,  its  final 
wreck,  and  total  overthrow.  "  Never  were  greater  ex- 
pectations formed,  and  never  were  anticipations  more  ex- 
ceeded than  in  this  event.  The  greatness  of  the  victory 
was  not  incredible,  from  the  unbounded  confidence  and 
expectation  of  the.  nation.  But  even  what  at  first  might 
seem  exaggerated  praise,  was  found,  from  the  dispassion- 
ate history  of  the  conqueror,  far  short  of  the  unrivalled 
glory  of  the  event.  THE  HERO  is  IMMORTAL,  AND  OUR 

COUNTRY  HAS  THE  BLESSING." 

Our  two  great  commanders  had  not  only  the  same  suc- 
cess in  bringing  the  respective  wars  triumphantly  to  a 
close,  but  their  success  was  mainly  owing  to  the  same 
cause :  they  had  both  learned  the  same  wisdom  in  the 


ADDRESS   TO   YOUNO  MEN.  365 

same  school  of  saffering,  the  school  of  Indian  warfare. 
It  was  in  this  that  they  were  trained  to  arms,  and  taught 
that  ever-watchful  circumspection,  prudence  in  council 
with  energy  in  action,  which  they  both  exhibited  through- 
out their  whole  career,  and  which  occasioned  "  the  un- 
bounded confidence  and  expectation  of  the  nation "  to 
concentrate  itself  upon  them.  So  implicit  was  the  reli- 
ance on  the  Western  Hero,  that  its  influence  extended 
even  to  the  other  side  the  Atlantic.  When  Gouldbourn, 
the  British  commissioner  at  Ghent,  remarked,  "  by  this 
time  New  Orleans  is  ours ;"  Henry  Clay  could  boldly  an 
swer,  for  he  knew  the  man,  "  No :  New  Orleans  is  safe : 
ANDREW  JACKSON  is  THERE." 

The  two  military  chieftains  dismissed  from  the  toils  of 
war,  longed  eagerly  for  retirement.  Their  country  still 
had  claims  upon  them,  claims  which  none  but  they  could 
satisfy. 

Twice  we  have  been  rescuel  from  danger,  by  these 
two  patriot  heroes,  both  strong  in  the  unbounded  confi- 
dence of  the  people,,  both  enjoying  that  confidence  from 
the  same  causes,  both  using  it  in  the  same  way  and  for 
the  same  ends,  both  eclipsing  the  lustre  of  their  military 
glory,  by  the  brighter  glory  of  their  civic  fame,  and  both 
embalming  the  memory  of  their  greatness  in  the  applause, 
the  gratitude  and  devotion  of  their  contemporaries,  who 
witnessed  the  salvation  of  their  country,  and  of  all  pos- 
terity who  shall  inherit  the  legacy  of  the  free  institutions 
which  their  hands  established  and  perpetuated. 

Since  its  origin,  with  the  exception  of  a  particular  in- 
terval, the  action  of  the  general  government  has  been 
constantly  and  irresistibly  enlarging  itself.  The  ominous 
progress  of  this  series  of  encroachments  upon  our  liber- 
ties, becoming  every  day  more  rapid,  could  only  be  ar- 
rested by  a  man  possessing  a  personal  popularity  second 
to  none  since  Washington,  and  disposed  to  use  the  power 
which  his  hold  on  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens  gave 
him,  to  reform  the  corruptions  of  the  government,  and  to 
restore  it  to  its  original  purity. 

Fortunately  for  us,  the  times  which  required,  as  before, 
produced  that  man.   Respected  for  his  talents  and  energy 
of  character,  and  trusted  for  his  integrity  and  the  sound- 
31* 


30C  THE    TKUE    AMERICANS 

ness  of  his  political  views ;  illustrious  for  the  crowning 
victory  of  the  last  war,  which  obliterated  the  memory  of 
many  defeats,  and  outshone  our  other  numerous  victories ; 
having  on  a  former  occasion  received  a  plurality  of  elect- 
oral votes,  he  was  at  last  called  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority of  suffrages  to  fill  the  presidential  chair.  Unap- 
palled  by  the  difficulty  of  the  task,  he  proceeded  steadily 
to  his  great  purpose,  and  obstacles  seemingly  insurmount- 
able gave  way  before  him.  The  growth  of  deep-rooted 
abuses  was  stayed  at  once,  and  he  exerted  all  his  sagacity 
and  decision  to  eradicate  them  from  our  system.  His 
reforms  in  office  reduced  to  practice  the  great  truth,  that 
placo-men  are  not  possessors  of  office  for  their  own  emo- 
lument, but  holders  of  a  trust  to  be  administered  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people  ;  and  in  every  department,  method, 
order,  punctuality,  and  economy  superseded  negligence, 
carelessness,  procrastination,  and  prodigality. 

In  his  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  he  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  national  policy  laid  by  Washington, 
"  the  immutable  principles  of  private  morality," — pro- 
claiming it  at  the  outset  as  a  fundamental  rule  of  his  con- 
duct, "  to  ask  nothing  but  what  was  clearly  right,  and  to 
submit  to  nothing  that  was  wrong."  To  this  golden  rule 
he  unalterably  adhered,  and  "  the  smiles  of  Heaven  have 
abundantly  approved  his  honest  and  magnanimous  policy." 
His  frank  and  manly  advances  to  other  governments  met 
a  ready  and  a  cordial  reception,  and  obtained  for  his 
country  advantages  which  the  tortuous  diplomacy  of  for- 
mer administrations  either  dared  not  attempt,  or  attempt- 
ed in  vain. 

Though  holding  the  highest  place  in  the  affections  of 
the  western  states,  he  dared  to  put  his  veto  upon  the  log- 
rolling system  of  corruption,  which  threatened  to  make 
Congress  an  exchange,  where  political  brokers  should  be 
sent  to  barter  money  laid  out  and  expended  for  promotion 
had  and  received.  By  this  bold  act  he  put  a  stop  to  the 
squandering  of  the  millions  on  millions  of  treasure  an- 
nually drained  from  the  seaboard,  and  applied  our  supera- 
bundant resources  to  the  payment  of  the  national  debt, 
which  he  was  thus  enabled  to  cancel ;  and  those  who  pre- 
dicted that  the  revenue  would  "  fall  short  one  half,  or  at 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  367 

least  one  third,"  had  no  other  ground  of  complaint  left 
than  the  rapid  accumulation  of  surplus  funds  in  the  trea- 
sury. Yet  the  taxes  of  the  people  have  been  diminished 
to  the  amount  of  more  than  two  hundred  millions  of 
dollars. 

The  system  of  unequal  taxation,  of  pampering  the 
producers  of  a  particular  article,  who  are  few,  at  the  cost 
of  the  consumers,  who  are  many,  has  been  a  fruitful 
source  of  misery  in  most  of  the  civilized  nations  of  mo- 
dern times.  After  it  had  become  the  object  of  the  ab- 
horrence of  the  friends  of  freedom  every  where  else,  it 
was  introduced,  chiefly  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Clay, 
into  the  United  States.  The  tariff  of  1828,  justly  styjed 
by  Mr.  Webster  "  a  bill  of  abominations,"  carried  this 
system  to  its  height,  and  the  consequent  reaction  at  the 
south  brought  into  jeopardy  our  Union  and  republican 
institutions ;  and  there  were  those  at  the  north  who  pro- 
mulgated the  unchristian  sentiment,  "  our  danger  lies  in 
concession,"  while  the  dogs  of  war,  almost  loosed  from 
their  leash,  already  seemed  to  snuff  the  blood  of  brethren. 
But  the  administration  had  taken  for  its  motto,  "  The  fe- 
deral Union,  it  must  be  preserved  :"  concession  was  made, 
liberal  concession,  though  the  Catilines  preferred  disu- 
nion, civil  war,  and  anarchy  to  concession.  We  have 
steered  clear  of  the  rocks  and  quicksands  that  beset  us, 
and  in  spite  of  the  conspiring  mutineers  that  would  have 
run  her  on  a  lee  shore,  that  they  might  take  command  of 
the  wreck  and  parcel  out  the  plunder,  the  ship  of  state 
stands  steadily  on  her  proud  course, — thanks  to  the  firm 
hand  that  never  let  go  the  helm.  May  a  thousand  ages 
roll  away  before  our  country  is  again  environed  with 
perils  imminent  as  she  then  escaped !  Her  escape  she 
owes,  under  God,  to  the  far-seeing  wisdom  and  unwaver- 
ing patriotism  which  presided  over  her  destinies — a  states- 
manship which  will  couple  his  name  with  that  of  Wash- 
ington in  the  memory  of  our  remotest  posterity. 

When  Andrew  Jackson  was  first  elected-  to  the  Presi- 
dency of  these  United  States,  we  knew  his  patriotism  and 
appreciated  his  talents  ;  but  who  could  then  have  antici- 
pated the  crisis  which  would  put  in  requisition  all  his  pa- 
triotism aod  all  his  talents  1  Eighteen  long  years  before,. 


80S  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

he  had  glory  enough  for  one  man,  but  now  his  cup  ia 
filled  to  overflowing. 

Each  of  the  hero  Presidents  received  the  sanction  of 
the  approbation  of  his  fellow-citizens,  after  his  system  of 
administration  had  been  distinctly  developed,  by  a  re- 
election for  a  second  term  of  service  with  a  high  degree 
of  unanimity.  And  as  if  to  carry  out  and  complete  the 
parallel,  each  during  his  second  term  found  himself  ha- 
rassed by  the  embarrassing  nature  of  our  relations  with 
France.  Both  alike  maintained  an  independent  attitude 
towards  that  power,  both  commanded  her  respect ;  and 
the  voice  of  congratulation  rising  from  the  whole  continent 
witnessed  the  universal  satisfaction  with  which  America 
welcomed  the  final  adjustment  of  the  difficulties. 

"  Sir,"  said  one  of  his  ablest  opponents,  Edward  Eve- 
rett of  Massachusetts,  "  if  the  President  will  so  temper 
his  policy  as  to  carry  this  country  honorably  through  the 
controversy  without  a  war,  he  will  draw  down  upon  his 
head  the  blessings  of  men  whose  voices  have  never  min- 
gled with  the  incense  of  his  flatterers  ;  and  his  name  in 
the  eyes  of  all  mankind  and  of  an  impartial  posterity, 
will  appear  fairer  and  brighter  than  when  he  came  out 
from  the  blazing  lines  of  New  Orleans,  in  all  the  fresh- 
ness of  his  victory,  and  its  honors !" 

The  great  events  in  which  he  has  been  concerned  are 
justly  ascribed  to  his  personal  agency.  The  purity  of 
his  intentions,  and  his  elevated  purposes  are  attested  by 
his  immediate  predecessor,  and  now  that  the  hoarse  roar 
of  party  animosity  is  hushed,  no  voice  is  heard  to  impeach 
them. 

The  state  papers  of  the  first  administration  were  nu- 
merous, highly  important  and  much  admired;  and  the 
farewell  address  is  among  the  richest  of  the  legacies  of 
wisdom  which  we  inherit  from  the  revolutionary  worthies. 
The  state  papers  of  the  last  and  present  administration 
will  suffer  nothing  by  the  comparison.  The  Maysville 
Road  Bill  Veto— the  Bank  Veto — the  Proclamation — the 
views  of  the  President  read  to  the  cabinet  on  the  18tli 
of  September,  1833 — the  Protest — the  several  messages, 
especially  those  on  the  Bank  and  the  French  affairs — thu 
farewell  Address  and  Message  at  the  special  session,  have 


ADDRESS   TO    YOUNG   MEN.  3*>0 

been  a  New  Orleans  battery  of  heavy  ojdnance — the 
close  columns  of  the  British  party  have  never,  been  able 
to  make  head  against  them. 

America  might  be  supposed  a  partial  judge  of  the  fame 
of  her  favorites — but  we  find  them-  respected  abroad  no 
less  highly  than  at  home.  The  champion  of  the  rights 
of  juries  at  the  English  bar,  the  great  master  of  forensic 
eloquence,  confessed  that  he  stood  in  awe  of  Washing- 
ton. The  prime  minister  of  the  most  liberal  administra- 
tion Great  Britain  has  ever  yet  seen,  pronounced  Jackson 
to  be  the  first  of  American  statesmen.  Already  a  trans- 
atlantic reputation,  which  no  one  living,  save  himself,  can 
claim,  associates  his  name  with  that  of  Washington,  and 
anticipates  the  sure  award  of  coming  generations. 

These  illustrious  pioneers  of  genuine  independence 
have,  by  their  whole  career  of  arduous  service  well  re- 
warded, demonstrated  the  proposition,  that  the  American 
people  will  sustain  the  statesman  who  maintains  Ameri- 
can principles ;  and  that  nothing  can  be  more  grateful 
to  their  feelings,  than  whatever  is  perfectly  suited  to  our 
own  institutions,  character,  and  situation  ;  free,  equal, 
liberal,  and  manly. 

Our  ship  of  state  navigates  no  pacific  ocean ;  she  rides 
the  stormy  billows  of  liberty.  Give  her  sea  room  enough, 
and  she  rides  secure,  and  defies  the  fury  of  embattled 
winds.  Hidden  perils  only  can  endanger  her  safety. 
Treacherous  insects  have  been  at  work  in  the  unseen 
depths;  slowly  and  long  have  the  coral  reefs  been  rising; 
if  treason  takes  the  helm  a  moment,  she  strikes,  and  all 
hope  is  lost.  But  the  ever-watchful  eye  of  our  experi- 
enced pilot,  wise  in  counsel,  resolute  in  action,  sagacious 
amid  difficulties,  and  unshaken  by  the  terrors  of  the  cri- 
sis, has  already  descried  the  course  through  which  her 
passage  opens ;  she  leaves  destruction  behind,  and  goes 
bounding  on  her  glorious  way,  a  home  of  life,  and  joy,  and 
confidence,  freighted  with  the  welfare  of  a  nation,  and 
cheered  by  the  admiration  of  a  world. 

The  great  dividing  line  between  our  parties  originally 
was,  generally  has  been,  and  for  the  most  part  will  be,  be- 
tween the  friends  of  arbitrary  power  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  friends  of  constitutional  freedom  on  the  othei — 


371  THS   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

between  those  who  wish,  by  wholesome  limitations  origi- 
nally imposed,  and  by  a  strict  construction  of  them,  to 
confine  governments  to  the  few  objects  which  have  been 
specified,  and  to  leave  the  people  otherwise  individually 
free  to  govern  themselves,  and  those  who  by  a  lavish 
grant  of  power  originally,  and  a  broad  latitude  of  inter- 
pretation, and  a  free  use  of  implication  afterwards,  would 
enable  the  government  to  control  and  regulate  every  ac- 
tion, and  would  make  it,  in  fine,  a  mere  engine  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many, 
like  every  other  government  upon  the  face  of  the  globe. 
The  first  constitute  the  democratic  or  constitutional  party, 
the  latter  are  the  aristocratic  or  consolidationist  party, 
who  seem  to  be  governed  by  British  rather  than  American 
principles. 

The  aristocratic  party  seem  never  to  have  abandoned 
the  doctrine  that  the  people  could  not  safely  be  trusted 
with  political  power.  They  consider  the  popular  will  too 
sandy  a  foundation  to  uphold  the  structure  of  govern- 
ment. For  this  reason,  after  failing  in  the  attempt  to 
establish  a  government  whose  leading  features  should  be 
a  President  to  serve  during  good  behavior — a  Senate  to 
serve  during  good  behavior,  and  to  have  the  sole  power 
of  declaring  war — the  Governor  of  each  state  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  federal  head,  and  to  have  a  negative  on 
the  laws  of  the  state — they  set  about  building  a  consoli- 
dated government  under  the  forms  of  a  democratic  con- 
stitution. In  many  respects  the  attempt  has  been  alarm- 
ingly successful.  One  who  observes  the  little  considera- 
tion which  the  states  now  command,  and  how  completely 
the  central  government  absorbs  and  draws  into  its  vortex 
every  interest  and  all  ambition,  cannot  but  feel  some  mis- 
givings lest  the  states  may  have  committed  the  same  fatal 
error  in  consenting  to  the  federal  government,  which  the 
forest  committed  in  giving  the  axe  wood  enough  to  fur- 
nish a  handle.  Such  misgivings  would  have  been  but  too 
well  founded,  had  not  the  Roman  energy  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son arrested,  before  it  was  too  late,  the  progress  of  con- 
solidation, and  redressed  the  wrongs  of  the  violated  con- 
stitution. 

There  w$s  but  one  resource  for  the  preservation  of  the 


ADDRESS   TO    YOUNG   MEN.  371 

constitution,  and  that  was  an  energetic,  democratic  chief 
magistrate.  Providence,  which  in  great  perils,  raises  up 
great  deliverers,  has  given  us  the  man.  He  fulfilled  hi« 
destiny,  and  routed  the  consolidationists  as  effectually  as 
he  did  their  British  friends  at  New  Orleans. 

The  whig  champion  of  the  constitution,  Daniel  Web- 
ster, explained  to  the  world  his  notions  of  the  nature  of 
government,  in  his  speech  in  the  Massachusetts  conven- 
tion against  basing  the  senate  on  population,  and  in  favor 
of  the  basis  of  wealth.  "  It  would  seem,"  said  that  gen- 
tleman, "  to  be  the  part  of  political  wisdom  TO  FOUND 
GOVERNMENT  ON  PROPERTY"— "  property  being 
the  true  basis  and  measure  of  power."  He  maintains  that 
a  government  founded  on  property,  is  legitimately  founded, 
and  that  a  government  founded  on  the  disregard  of  pro- 
perty, IS  FOUNDED  IN  INJUSTICE.  These  purely 
British  notions  come  quite  up  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  idea  of 
the  "  splendid  government  of  an  aristocracy."  Such  a 
government  would  be  very  certain  to  take  care  of  the  rich, 
and  let  the  rich  take  care  of  the  poor,  in  whatever  way 
might  suit  their  own  interest.  No  wonder  that  a  states- 
man holding  such  principles  s'nould  desire  to  build  up 
our  house  of  lords  into  an  irresponsible  oligarchy,  ca- 
pable of  controlling  every  other  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment. No  wonder  that  he  should  look  with  peculiar  favor 
upon  every  British  feature  in  our  institutions,  and  that  he 
should  aim  especially  to  make  A  NATIONAL  BANK  the 
main  pillar  of  that  government,  which  he  thinks  it  "  the 
part  of  political  wisdom  TO  FOUND  ON  PROPERTY." 

The  democratic  party,  on  the  other  hand,  holds  fast 
those  purely  American  principles  which  have  already  been 
described.  Again  and  again  have  they  been  put  forward 
as  our  distinguishing  doctrines,  and  it  is  upon  the  faithful- 
ness with  which  they  have  supported  and  applied  these 
doctrines,  that  those  who  stand  foremost  in  our  ranks 
must  rest  their  claims  to  public  confidence.  As  no  man 
has  practically  illustrated  this  creed  more  consistently  or 
with  happier  effect  than  our  late  chief  magistrate,  so  no  man 
has  given  the  theory  a  more  beautiful  expression.  "  The 
ambition  which  leads  me  on'' — these  were  the  words  of 
that  venerated  patriot,  uttered  upon  a  memorable  occasion, 


872  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

with  that  noble  frankness  which  only  conscious  rectitude 
could  inspire — "  the  ambition  which  leads  me  on  is  an 
anxious  desire  and  a  fixed  determination,  to  return  to  the 
people,  unimpaired,  the  sacred  trust  they  have  committed 
to  my  charge — to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  constitution, 
and  preserve  it  from  further  violation  ;  to  persuade  my 
countrymen,  so  far  as  I  may,  that  it  is  not  in  a  splendid 
government,  supported  by  powerful  monopolies  and  aris- 
tocratic establishments,  that  they  will  find  happiness  or 
their  liberties  protection,  but  in  a  plain  system,  void  of 
pomp, — protecting  all,  and  granting  favors  to  none — rfiV 
pensing  its  blessings  like  flic  durs  of  heaven,  unseen  and 
nnfelt  save  in  the  freshness  and  beauty  they  contribute  to 
produce.  If  the  Almighty  Being,  who  has  hitherto  sus- 
tained and  protected  me,  will  but  vouchsafe  to  make  my 
feeble  powers  instrumental  to  such  a  result,  I  shall  anti- 
pate  with  pleasure  the  place  to  be  assigned  me  in  the 
history  of  my  country,  and  die  contented  with  the  belief 
that  I  have  contributed,  in  some  small  degree,  to  increase 
the  value  and  prolong  the  duration  of  American  liberty." 
To  increase  the  value  and  prolong  the  duration  of 
American  liberty,  there  are  three  essential  requisites — a 
strict  observance  of  its  sacred  charter  the  constitution, 
the  supremacy  of  the  laws  under  the  constitution,  and  the 
preservation  of  the  federal  Union.  If  the  constitution 
should  be  violated  by  the  adoption  of  the  whig  policy,  of 
plundering  the  many  to  pamper  the  few,  consolidation 
would  either  bring  on  the  dead  calm  of  despotism,  or 
provoke  a  tempest  of  resistance,  ending  in  revolution. 
If  the  laws  may  with  impunity  be  set  at  defiance,  either 
by  a  corporation  exalting  itself  above  law,  and  gathering 
its  strength  to  break  down  our  constituted  authorities ; 
or  by  a  band  of  factious  demagogues,  disappointed,  re- 
vengeful, and  disorganizing  ;  or  by  seditious  mobs  insti- 
gated to  violence  and  outrage  by  the  incendiary  harangues 
of  the  Catilines  who  preach  panic,  create  distress, 
and  cry  to  arms,  because  they  would  willingly  welcome 
war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  rather  than  endure  the  pre- 
Talence  of  democracy — in  either  case,  anarchy,  misrule 
and  civil  discord  would  stalk  through  the  land.  If  bold 
bad  men,  struggling  to  pull  down  the  virtue  they  cannot 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  073 

rise  to  emulate,  should- burst  asunder  the  bands  of  our 
national  Union,  the  days  of  our  independence  would  soon 
be  numbered,  and  liberty  could  not  hope  to  survive.  These 
three  fundamental  truths,  the  President,  in  his  usual  com- 
prehensive and  emphatic  language,  has  condensed  into 
an  aphorism—"  THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  LAWS 

ARE    SUPREME,  AND  TKE  UNION  INDISSOLUBLE." 

This  grand  and  simple  annunciation  of  democratic 
doctrine  would  have  been  a  mere  form  of  words  without 
meaning,  if  their  author  had  not  redressed  the  first  and 
most  fearful  infraction  of  the  constitution.  The  duty 
of  the  administration,  as  to  this  point,  was  fully  expressed 
in  the  sentiment  of  Mr.  Van  Buren — "  Unqualified  and 
uncompromising  opposition  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  The  interest  and  the  honor  of  the  people  de- 
mand it." 

No  one  that  knew  the  bold  heart  and  the  firm  hand 
that  guided  the  helm  of  state  could  dcubt  for  a  moment 
that  the  interest  and  the  honor  of  the  people  were  safe. 
The  opinion  of  the  early  friend  of  Washington,  the 
adopted  child  of  America,  the  apostle  of  universal  liber- 
ty, the  lamented  of  both  worlds,  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD 
LA  FAYETTE,  was  also  the  opinion  of  the  democrats  of 
America,  as  219  electoral  votes  bestowed  upon  the  author 
of  the  Bank  Veto,  against  the  49  votes  of  the  bank  or 
whig  party,  may  amply  testify.  The  illustrious  worthy, 
LaFayette,  shortly  before  he  closed  his  sublunary  pilgrim- 
age, and  went  joyfully  to  receive  the  reward  of  a  long 
life  of  suffering,  toil  and  virtue,  expressed  himself  in 
words  which  ought  to  be  forever  remembered. 

"  General  Jackson  is  the  very  man  fitted  for  the  present 
crisis" — said  that  keen,  judicious  and  experienced  obser- 
ver of  human  character.  "  His  stern  and  uncompromi- 
sing republicanism,  and  high  sense  of  honor,  will  prove 
the  best  security  for  our  republican  institutions — (for  he 
calls  every  thing  American  his  own.)  For  a  long  time  I 
saw  with  pain  the  advances  of  an  aristocratic  moneyed 
institution,  which  threatened  to  cast  a  poisonous  mildew 
over  our  precious  liberties.  They  would  have  rendered 
our  fair  country  a  passive  instrument  in  their  hands,  in 
which  case  freedom  would  have  vanished  from  among  us. 
32 


374  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

General  Jackson  possesses  the  honesty  of  a  Regulus,  the 
patriotism  of  a  Washington,  and  the  firmness  of  a  Timo- 
leon — in  fact,  I  am  unacquainted  with  any  character  in 
ancient  or  modern  history,  which  combines  so  much 
cellence  with  so  few  of  the  errors  of  humanity." 

The  champions  of  the  paper  power  had  strong  hopes 
at  this  time,  that  the  bank  leviathan  in  his  fury  would 
rend  and  tear  the  constituted  authority  of  the  nation, 
which  had  put  a  hook  in  his  nose,  and  restrained  the  su- 
perfluity of  his  naughtiness.  But  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
cases,  whenever  the  aristocratic  party  have  congratulated 
themselves  that  democracy  had  taken  the  fatal  step,  had 
plunged  itself  into  an  abyss  from  which  it  could  never 
rise,  behold  it  standing  on  firmer  ground  than  ever. 
When  they  look  for  its  disastrous  eclipse,  it  shines  out 
brighter  than  ever.  When  they  look  for  its  final  downfall, 
behold  it  towering  more  secure  and  lofty,  in  the  esteem 
and  affection  of  a  whole  people,  smiling  at  the  impotent 
malice  of  the  billows  of  wrath  that  lash  the  foot  of  the 
adamantine  rock  of  truth  whereon  it  stands.  In  1832, 
loud  and  long  was  the  anthem  of  joy  from  the  whole  host 
of  mammon.  The  recoil  of  the  veto  had  prostrated  old 
Hickory  !  The  veto  strengthened  him.  In  1833,  his  popu- 
larity was  unbounded.  We  saw  the  aristocracy  of  the 
city  of  Boston  welcome  the  old  hero  with  the  homage  of 
the  heart — for  it  could  not  have  been  all  mere  lip  service. 
We  heard  them  send  up  the  universal  shout  that  almost 
rent  the  blue  concave.  We  saw  them  thronging  his  anti- 
chamber — besieging  his  bed-chamber — scarcely  leaving 
uninvaded  his  refuge  on  the  couch  of  sickness ;  so  eager 
were  they  to  pour  into  his  ear  the  testimony  of  their  re- 
spect, their  gratitude,  and  their  love.  Our  ancient  uni- 
versity of  Harvard  bestowed  her  highest  honors  upon  her 
illustrious  visitor,  thereby  honoring  herself  more  than  she 
honored  him.  And  at  Bunker  Hill,  the  scene  of  the  first 
great  battle  in  the  long  struggle  with  British  power  which 
he  himself  had  closed  so  gloriously  at  New  Orleans,  one 
of  our  most  eloquent  orators  exhausted  the  language  of 
panegyric  to  do  justice  to  his  virtues  and  his  valor.  King- 
loathed  Columbia's  brave  and  wise  old  man  cannot  have 
been,  at  that  time,  the  object  of  the  hatred  of  any  citizen. 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  375 

We  have  no  bold,  bad  men,  no  senators,  like  Catiline, 
the  Roman  senator,  when  he  aspired  to  the  consulship, 
striving  to  pull  down  the  virtue  they  cannot  rise  to  emu- 
late. Thousands  witnessed  the  affection,  it  might  almost 
be  said  the  adoration,  which  the  whigs  of  Boston  mani- 
fested in  1833,  for  the  defender  and  restorer  of  the  con- 
stitution, and  since  that  time  he  has  done  much  to 
strengthen  their  devotion,  having  fairly  subdued  that 
deadly  enemy,  the  United  States  Bank  monopoly. 

Yet,  in  1834,  the  dupes  of  federal  delusion  were  again 
on  tiptoe  with  glad  expectation.  Nicholas  Biddle  and 
the  hero  were  in  their  death  grapple.  Nicholas  will 
throttle  him,  was  the  cry  of  the  Biddleites.  But  it  proved 
to  be  the  dying  convulsion  of  the  monster.  That  strug- 
gle and  its  issue  have  been  grossly  misrepresented,  but 
history  and  posterity  will  set  the  matter  right,  all  over 
the  world. 

History  and  posterity  will  say  that  Andrew  Jackson, 
by  loosening  the  hold  which  the  bank  had  on  the  go- 
vernment and  on  the  people,  was  enabled  to  bid  defiance 
to  its  arts  arid  power,  to  defeat  its  onset  to  reconquer  us 
and  subject  us  anew  to  its  detested  sway  ;  and  that  he 
thereby  restored  to  its  original  pristine  purity  the  violated 
constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Do  we  not  remember  the  endless  catalogue  of  whig 
victories  in  1834,  the  tens  of  thousands  of  new-made 
whig  converts  in  almost  every  state  in  the  Union,  that 
for  a  few  short  months  delighted  whig  credulity?  And 
do  we  not  remember  that  in  1835  the  administration  was 
stronger  than  ever  ?  So  mote  it  be  !  So  will  it  be  now. 
The  dark  clouds  that  sheltered  the  dim-eyed  owls  and 
bats  of  whig  delusion  are  fast  dissipating  before  the  re- 
fulgence of  truth,  and  in  brief  space  the  glorious  sun  of 
democracy  will  burst  upon  their  gaze  in  dazzling  splen- 
dor, clear  and  unspotted  as  the  sun  of  Austerlitz. 

A  bold,  just,  and  consistent  course  is  the  only  safe 
policy  for  an  individual,  or  for  a  government,  whatever 
hoarse  clamors  of  prejudice  or  howling  tempests  of  fac- 
tion may  rage  around  you.  It  is  as  true  that  there  is 
no  safety  in  cowardice,  as  that  there  is  no  peace  for  the 


376  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

wicked.  The  administration  knows  this  truth,  and  it 
will  push  onward,  and  right  on. 

There  is  practically  but  one  great  question  now  before 
the  people.  It  is  whether  they  will  go  back  to  the  sys- 
tem of  consolidation,  and  in  a  few  years  time  make  their 
government  equivalent  to  a  monarchy,  with  a  house  of 
lords,  and  an  overruling  money  power.  All  who  oppose 
the  independent  treasury  des'/e  to  re-establish  the  Uni- 
ted States  Bank,  for  there  is  no  other  alternative.  With 
a  bank  would  come  also  the  bank  policy,  an  assumption 
of  state  debts  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  millions, 
internal  improvements  'ike  the  projected  road  from  Buf- 
falo to  New  Orleans,  r.nd  the  projects  to  cost  a  hundred 
millions,  which  were  prostrated  by  the  Maysville  Veto. 
To  support  this  monstrous  system,  heavy  taxes,  like  the 
bill  of  abominatkris  of  1828,  must  again  be  levied  on  us, 
the  millstone  ag?.m  be  hung  upon  the  neck  of  commerce, 
and  the  two  hundred  millions  of  duties  from  which  we 
have  been  relieved  since  General  Jackson's  election  would 
again  be  imposed,  ay,  and  augmented.  This  combina- 
tion of  measures  would  double  or  treble  the  revenue,  the 
expense?,  and  the  patronage  of  the  general  government, 
and  in  the  host  of  additional  office  holders,  and  contract- 
ors, and  the  perpetual  millions  lavished  in  the  log-rolling 
system  would  be  found  an  inexhaustible  source  of  influ- 
ence and  fund  of  corruption. 

Those  who  aim  to  introduce  a  strong  government,  de- 
sire to  make  use  of  its  powers,  as  the  aristocracy  of  all 
old  nations  have  done,  to  direct  to  their  own  reservoirs 
those  innumerable,  minute  streams  of  wealth,  which,  un- 
der the  equalizing  influence  of  freedom,  diffuse  a  general 
fertility  over  the  whole  surface  of  society.  Though  these 
ulterior  designs  may  never  be  realized,  and  in  their  full 
extent  never  can  be  without  a  revolution  more  terrible 
than  any  yet  recorded  in  history,  still  it  will  be  the  part 
of  wisdom  to  understand  precisely  the  end  they  have  in 
view.  The  perilous  progress  towards  consolidation  was 
indeed  appalling,  and  the  firmest  friends  of  their  country 
had  begun  to  apprehend  that  it  was  irresistible,  when  it 
encountered  an  obstacle  which  neither  force  nor  craft 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  377 

•ould  remove,  nor  seduction,  intrigue,  or  intimidation 
overcome.  The  old  Roman  vigor,  incorruptible  integrity, 
and  austere  probity  of  Andrew  Jackson,  sternly  rejecting 
the  immense  accession  of  executive  influence  and  patron- 
age which  an  infatuated  opposition  never  ceased  for  a 
moment  to  urge  upon  him,  turned  back  the  current  of 
federal  encroachment,  and  restored,  before  it  was  too 
late,  the  violated  constitution  to  its  original  purity.  Dur- 
ing his  career  as  chief  magistrate,  the  world  beheld  for 
the  first  time  the  astonishing  spectacle,  which,  unless 
human  nature  be  wholly  regenerated  it  will  seldom  wit- 
ness again,  of  an  administration,  which  voluntarily,  and 
in  defiance  of  the  bitterest  opposition,  in  defiance  of  re- 
proaches, threats,  and  maledictions,  diminished  its  own 
revenue  ;  lightened,  by  refusing  income  offered  and  ak 
moct  forced  into  its  hands,  the  burdens  of  the  people; 
cut  off  and  cast  from  it  the  strongest  means  of  influence  ; 
lessened  the  number  of  its  powers ;  narrowed  the  limits 
of  its  action ;  and  not  only  restrained  itself  from  corrup- 
tion and  abuses,  to  which  its  enemies  invited  it,  but  re- 
moved to  the  utmost  of  its  capacity,  the  possibility  of 
abuses  and  corruption  hereafter.  The  overthrow  and 
ruin  of  that  administration  were  confidently  predicted  if  it 
should  dare  persist  to  follow  the  self-denying  path  of  duty. 
Truly  formidable  was  the  combination  of  learning,  and 
talent,  and  wealth,  and  weight  of  authority  enlisted  against 
it ;  fearful  was  the  conflict,  and  doubtful  for  a  while 
seemed  the  issue.  But  the  hero  who  filled  the  post  of 
danger  had  adopted  the  maxim  of  Metellus,  whom,  in  un- 
bending  fortitude  and  umblemished  virtue,  he  most  re- 
sembled. "  If  it  were  always  safe  to  do  right,  who  would 
ever  do  wrong  1  It  is  the  part  of  good  men  to  do  that 
which  is  right,  even  when  least  for  their  safety."  He 
was  ready  therefore  to  take  the  responsibility  of  fulfilling 
the  oath  he  had  sworn,  of  maintaining  the  constitution 
of  his  country,  and  of  seeing  that  her  laws  should  be 
faithfully  executed.  Andrew  Jackson  had  made  an  ex-, 
periment  some  years  before  at  New  Orleans.  He  had 
tried,  and  knew  the  effect  of  a  well-directed  energy  in 
scattering  the  solid  columns  of  British  veterans,  officered 
by  choice  scions  of  British  nobility.  He  was  not  there- 
32* 


378  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

fore  to  be  driven  from  his  purpose  by  the  most  deter- 
mined onset  of  whatever  array  of  British  principles,  Bri- 
tish precedents,  and  British  interests,  the  whole  British 
party  in  these  United  States  could  marshal  against 
him.  He  proceeded  steadily  in  the  work  of  reform. 
God  speed  the  right,  was  the  fervent  prayer  of  every 
true-hearted  patriot,  every  honest  statesman,  every  wise 
philanthropist  in  the  world.  That  prayer  was  accepted. 
The  enemies  of  our  liberty  rushed  upon  him  in  mad  fury, 
to  hurl  him  from  his  station.  Like  the  unclouded  sum- 
mit of  a  lofty  mountain,  against  whose  base  the  storms 
spend  their  vain  rage,  he  stood  unshaken,  above  the 
whirlwind  of  passions  that  threatened  the  overthrow  of 
our  social  institutions.  Where  now  are  his  assailants? 
Shall  I  say,  a  Waterloo  defeat  awaited  them  ?  Our 
language  furnishes  an  expression  somewhat  more  em- 
phatical.  A  New  Orleans  defeat  annihilated  them.  The 
British  bank  is  bankrupt.  The  British  system  of  restric- 
tion is  abandoned.  Unconstitutional  taxation  is  disa- 
vowed. New  England  cannot  be  assessed  to  tunnel  the 
Alleghanies.  The  traitors  who  deserted  the  cause  of 
their  country  in  the  hour  of  her  peril,  have  sunk  into  con- 
genial oblivion.  The  tenant  of  the  throne  of  Napoleon 
has  redressed  the  wrongs  of  his  predecessor.  The  last 
remnant  of  the  system  of  consolidation  has  disappeared, 
and  neither  from  discontent  and  division  at  home,  nor 
through  aggression  from  abroad,  can  any  opportunity  now 
be  anticipated  to  restore  its  hated  sway.  The  consolida- 
tionists  are  completely  consolidated. 

Since  their  last  catastrophe  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  there  has  been  no  hope  for  them.  They  indeed 
did  make  a  desperate  plunge  to  recover  the  public  favor 
when  they  brought  about  the  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments in  1837,  and  falsely  attributed  that  calamity  to  the 
administration. 

The  suspension  of  specie  payments  having  been  natu- 
rally brought  about  by  the  paper-money  party,  by  their 
unprecedented  overbanking  and  consequent  speculation, 
having  been  precipitated  by  their  favorite  measure,  the 
distribution,  having  been  recommended  by  them  long  be- 
rore  it  happened,  justified  by  them  ever  since,  and  profit- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  379 

able  to  them  while  it  lasts,  is  the  appropriate  consummation 
of  the  whig  policy  upon  the  subject  of  the  currency.  By 
a  currency  of  irredeemable  paper  the  many  are  made  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  few.  The  aristocracy,  who  in  all  coun- 
tries desire  to  enrich  themselves  out  of  the  taxes  of  the 
people,  make  it  an  engine  of  taxation. 

The  people  suffer  by  the  depreciation  of  the  bills  in 
their  hands.  The  speculator  in  beef,  pork,  flour,  or  cot- 
ton, buys  up  these  bills  at  a  large  discount,  and  pays 
them  into  the  bank,  in  discharge  of  his  obligations,  at  par. 

Though  the  Great  Regulator  of  the  currency,  the 
United  States  Bank,  failed  with  the  rest,  and  is  now  more 
hopelessly  insolvent  than  almost  any  other  engine  of  fraud 
in  the  country,  still  a  large  class  of  mercantile  men  la- 
mented its  downfall,  and  preposterously  prayed  for  its 
impossible  restoration  to  soundness  and  health.  The 
merchants  doing  a  moderate  business  would  be  crushed 
and  ground  into  the  dust  beneath  the  wheels  of  this  pon- 
derous engine,  as  so  many  thousands  of  their  predecessors 
have  been,  yet  many  of  them  are  still  ready  to  cast  them- 
selves before  the  car  of  Juggernaut,  at  the  bidding  of  their 
political  priesthood,  and  perish  for  the  glory  of  the  money 
king.  They  are  as  much  incensed  against  the  govern- 
ment which  has  delivered  them  from  their  opppressor, 
as  the  Hindoos  are  with  the  government  of  India  for  its 
efforts  to  suppress  the  Thugs. 

This  class  of  incurables,  though  their  numbers  daily 
diminish,  and  their  wailing  cry  grows  fainter  and  fainter, 
have  wickedly,  as  well  as  stupidly,  charged  upon  the  de- 
mocratic party  the  consequences  of  the  paper-money  poli- 
cy. The  absurdity  is  too  gross  to  influence  an  intelligent 
people,  an,d  indeed  the  hard-cider  party  have  long  since 
ceased  to  make  any  appeal  to  intelligence. 

Did  the  administration  advise  the  rechartering  of  the 
United  States  Bank  by  Pennsylvania  ?  Did  the  administra- 
tion advise  that  the  number  of  banks,  the  amount  of  bank 
capital,  of  loans,  and  of  paper  circulation  should  be  more 
than  doubled,  nay,  almost  trebled,  within  six  years  ?  Did 
the  administration  urge  the  banks  to  issue  more  notes 
than  they  could  redeem ;  the  merchants  to  import  more 
than  they  could  pay  for  ;  and  to  supply  the  retailers  with 


380  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

more  goods  than  they  could  dispose  of?  Did  it  instigate 
thousands  of  young  men  to  abandon  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  and  throng  to  the  great  cities,  to  embark  in  the 
lottery  of  trade  ?  Did  it  run  up  the  prices  of  articles 
of  commerce?  Did  it  encourage  speculators  to  invest 
immense  amounts  in  fancy  stocks,  in  products,  house 
lots,  and  public  lands?  Did  it  recommend  the  distribu- 
tion bill,  to  withdraw,  in  four  payments,  near  forty  mil- 
lions from  the  channels  of  commerce  ?  Did  it  advise  the 
borrowing  of  two  hundred  millions  abroad  ?  Did  it  ad- 
rise  the  United  States  Bank  to  buy  up  the  cotton  crop  of 
the  country  on  speculation,  to  involve  itself  with  monopo- 
lizers of  flour,  beef,  and  pork,  and  with  many  millions 
of  most  worthless  fancy  stocks,  and  then  to  stop  payment, 
and  thereby  derange  the  whole  currency  and  exchanges 
of  the  nation?  These  are  the  causes  of  our  distress,  and 
against  these  it  has  never  failed  to  remonstrate ;  it  has 
not  ceased  to  warn  us  of  our  dangers.  The  bank  party 
have  driven  us  toward  the  precipice,  over  which  they 
would  now  compel  us  to  plunge.  The  administration 
has  labored  faithfully  to  avert  impending  evils.  The  bank 
veto  was  intended  to  put  an  end  to  that  great  disturbing 
power  over  the  currency,  which  has  made  its  successive 
expansions  and  contractions  so  sudden  and  terrible.  The 
removal  of  the  deposits  paralized  the  destructive  energy 
with  which  the  bank  was  then  waging  war  on  credit  and 
industry,  and  prepared  the  community  for  the  redemption 
of  its  notes  and  the  collection  of  its  debts  by  that  insti- 
tution, if  it  had  been  disposed  to  acquiesce  in  the  deci- 
sion of  the  nation.  The  specie  circular  checked  the 
frauds,  speculations,  and  monopolies  in  the  public  lands ; 
checked  the  excessive  bank  credits  in  the  west ;  checked 
also  the  overbanking  and  overtrading  of  the  Atlantic 
cities  from  which  it  retained  specie  ;  secured  the  safety 
of  the  treasury  receipts ;  strengthened  the  western  banks, 
and  thereby  lessened  the  losses  of  the  merchants  on  the 
seaboard  by  their  inland  debtors ;  and  by  retarding  the 
exportation  of  gold  and  silver  to  England,  made  the  re- 
sumption of  specie  payments  possible. 

By  the  passage  of  the  sub-treasury  bill  the  banks  know 
that  prices  are  to  be  more  steady  and  business  more  re- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  381 

gular,  and  the  news  of  the  passage  ought  to  have  been 
the  signal  for  a  general  resumption  of  specie  payments, 
south  and  west,  as  in  fact  it  was  in  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina. The  only  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  general  resump- 
tion at  this  moment  is  the  deplorable  condition  of  the 
United  States  Bank,  which  is  perishing  in  its  own  rotten- 
ness. Immediately  upon  the  passage  of  the  independent 
treasury  bill,  the  prices  of  such  agricultural  products  as 
had  been  most  unreasonably  depressed,  experienced  an 
improvement,  there  was  a  revival  of  business,  and  a  re- 
storation of  confidence,  even  according  to  the  confession 
of  honest  whigs  themselves. 

The  last  and  present  administrations,  then,  are  not 
responsible  for  any  depression  of  business.  They  did 
nothing  to  cause  it.  They  have  done  every  thing  to 
remove  it. 

The  United  States  Bank,  by  its  expansions  and  contrac- 
tions caused  all  the  other  banks  to  expand  and  contract  in 
obedience  to  its  will,  while  it  was  itself  controlled  by  the 
Bank  of  England.  These  expansions  and  contractions 
caused  prices  to  rise  and  fall,  so  that  our  business  was 
under  the  control  of  the  Bank  of  England.  Under  this 
influence,  when  prices  were  high,  we  imported  in  three 
years  more  than  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars  worth  of 
goods  more  than  we  could  then  pay  for.  We  imported 
when  cotton  was  sixteen  cents  a  pound,  and  we  are  now 
paying  for  these  goods  in  cotton  at  less  than  eight  cents 
a  pound.  This  is  the  blessing  of  bank  action  on  prices, 
by  causing  the  currency  to  fluctuate  under  British  control. 
Were  we  INDEPENDENT  while  thus  controlled? 

When  the  venerable  Franklin,  in  the  last  period  of  his 
life,  heard  the  war  of  1776  spoken  of  as  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence, he  is  said  to  have  replied,  "  Say  rather,  the  war 
of  the  Revolution  :  THAT  OF  INDEPENDENCE  IS 
YET  TO  COME."  Ay,  fellow-citizens,  it  was  to 
come  !  It  has  come  !  We  have  conquered  ! 

For  the  last  ten  years  the  power  of  the  bank  has  been 
broken.  The  commerce,  agriculture,  and  manufactures 
of  the  country  have  flourished — our  business  has  doubled. 

In  1830,  imports  79  millions — exports  73  millions. 
1839,       "      162        "  "      121       " 


382  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

The  prosperity  of  agriculture  and  manufactures  haj 
been  even  more  astonishing  than  that  of  commerce. 

Under  the  full  power  of  the  bank,  these  great  interests 
were  decaying.  From  1825  to  1830,  the  commerce  of 
the  country  diminished,  the  prices  of  agricultural  pro- 
ducts fell,  factories  without  number  failed.  Whoever 
remembers  the  disasters  of  that  gloomy  period  of  the 
bank  ascendency,  rejoices  in  the  relief  and  comparative 
ease  of  the  last  ten  years.  Never  has  the  good  of  the 
whole  people  been  more  successfully  provided  for ;  and 
yet  never  was  man  more  outraged  and  vilified,  than  the 
two  illustrious  statesmen  who  during  that  period  have  suc- 
cessively presided  over  the  destinies  of  the  nation. 

The  sole  purpose  of  government  is  the  good  of  the 
whole  people,  and  the  gratitude  and  love  of  the  people 
will  reward  him  whom  the  enmity  of  the  few  would 
in  rain  strive  to  load  with  dishonor.  He  has  fought  the 
good  fight  faithfully,  and  let  the  disappointed  and  the 
envious  detractor  say  what  they  may,  sixteen  millions  of 
freemen  have  already  awarded  to  him  the  meed  of  an 
undying  fame. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  conflict  which  we  have  hitherto 
carried  on  victoriously  under  his  auspices,  is  still  to  be 
continued.  Perpetual  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty. 
Let  no  neglect  of  ours  forfeit  the  rich  inheritance.  In 
union  there  is  strength.  Let  us  march  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der to  the  decisive  onset.  Let  us  present  to  the  foes  of 
the  democratic  cause,  a  concentrated,  and  therefore  a 
formidable  front. 

In  our  candidate  for  the  first  office  in  the  gift  of  the 
people,  we  can  have  nothing  more  to  desire.  The  dis- 
tinguished son  of  the  empire  state  is  the  adopted  favorite 
of  the  whole  Union.  The  arrows  of  his  assailants  have 
fallen  harmless  at  his  feet,  and  our  clear-sighted  yeomanry 
do  justice  to  the  leading  traits  of  his  well-balanced  cha- 
racter. 

To  form  a  perfect  statesman,  the  knowledge  of  history, 
the  wisdom  of  experience  and  the  inspiration  of  geniui 
combine  to  illuminate  his  understanding;  while  courage 
to  dare,  and  fortitude  to  suffer  in  the  cause  of  humanity, 
must  arm  him  with  an  impenetrable  panoply  for  that  war- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  383 

fare  against  the  common  enemies  of  our  race,  to  which 
a  generous  philanthropy  will  incessantly  impel  him.  In 
which  of  these  requisites  does  not  Martin  Van  Burea 
excel  1 

"  Who,"  said  Mr.  Wilde,  of  Georgia,  no  partial  wit- 
ness— "  who  was  a  more  dexterous  debater  ?  better  versed 
in  the  politics  of  our  country  ;  or  deeper  read  in  the 
HISTORY  of  others ;  above  all,  who  was  more  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  idiom  of  the  English  language,  and 
its  beauty  and  delicacy,  or  more  capable  of  breathing 
thoughts  of  flame  in  words  of  magic  and  tones  of  silver?" 

From  the  momentous  crisis  of  the  war  to  this  day,  hold- 
ing the  most  important  trusts,  and  filling  the  most  respon- 
sible stations  in  state  and  nation,  in  a  continued  though 
varied  career  of  active  and  arduous  duty,  who  can  have 
reaped  a  richer  harvest  of  EXPERIENCE  ? 

At  the  outset  of  his  public  life,  he  stepped  at  once  into 
the  front  rank  of  the  New  York  bar,  where  the  Spencers, 
Rents,  and  Livingstons,  and  Hamilton  had  established  the 
standard  of  talent.  At  the  time  which  tried  men's  souls, 
the  darkest  period  of  the  war,  on  his  first  entrance  to  the 
senate  of  that  state,  he,  a  youth,  gave  the  efficient  impulse 
to  that  body.  Mounting  to  higher  theatres  of  fame,  in 
every  part  he  is  called  to  act,  he  distances  all  rivalship. 
When  his  enemies  look  for  his  eclipse  and  downfall,  they 
behold  him  shining  brighter  and  soaring  higher,  with  the 
brilliancy  of  transcendent  intellect,  and  the  buoyancy  of 
paramount  merit.  His  intrigues  the  service  of  the  peo- 
ple, his  arts  the  faithful  performance  of  duty,  he  has  run 
rapidly  through  a  series  of  promotion,  shedding  lustre  on 
every  post  he  occupies.  Who  can  exhibit  proofs  more 
unequivocal  of  GENIUS  of  the  highest  order  ? 

In  the  legislature,  the  senate,  the  cabinet,  through  the 
war,  the  great  northern  defection,  and  the  struggle  for 
the  renewed  ascendency  of  democratic  principles,  through 
the  death  grapple  with  the  moneyed  power,  the  COURAGE 
he  has  manifested  cannot  be  called  in  question ;  neither 
can  the  fortitude  with  which  he  smiles  upon  the  system- 
atic detraction,  virulent  beyond  example,  except  in  the 
history  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  by  which  he  has  been 


384  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tried  as  by  fire,  but  under  which  no  man  ever  saw  him 
quail  or  waver. 

"  Uncompromising  hostility  to  the  United  States  Bonk, 
the  interest  and  the  honor  of  the  people  demand  it,"  has 
been  the  maxim  of  his  faith  and  practice.  We  have,  with 
his  express  pledge,  the  guaranty  of  his  uniform  course, 
from  his  first  entrance  upon  the  political  arena,  that  he 
will  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Andrew  Jackson.  He  has 
followed;  and  like  him  has  triumphed. 

In  politics,  men  are  put  forward  to  represent  princi- 
ples, and  to  effect  the  will  of  the  masses.  Let  us  again 
elevate  Martin  Van  Buren  to  the  chair  of  state,  that  we 
may  not  only  maintain  the  ground  we  have  gained  alrea- 
dy, but  during  the  second  term  of  his  presidency,  soon 
about  to  open  so  auspiciously,  eradicate  from  our  system 
and  institutions,  every  vestige  of  foreign  policy,  intro- 
duced by  servile  imitation,  and  discordantly  combined 
with  the  original  home  growth  of  freedom,  only  to  mar 
its  simplicity  and  unity. 

That  he  is  the  man  predestined  by  Providence  to  ac- 
complish this  glorious  work,  we  have  abundant  evidence 
in  that  he  has  thus  far  been  prospered  in  this  his  high 
mission.  Commenced  in  a  darker  day,  he  has  gone  on 
with  the  arduous  task  of  giving  permanent  stability  to 
American  independence  and  liberty,  and  already  the 
sunshine  of  victory  gladdens  and  cheers  his  honest  efforts. 
Three  years  ago,  the  bank  desperadoes  hoped  by  distress 
and  panic  to  bend  to  their  will  the  American  people  and 
the  government  of  their  choice.  The  onset  was  terrible, 
but  our  leader  stood  firm.  A  bold  man  might  have  hesi- 
tated, a  timid  man  would  have  quailed  ;  but  he,  unap- 
plied by  the  real  perils  of  the  crisis,  called  together 
the  Congress  of  the  extra  session,  collected  all  the  talent 
opposed  to  him,  and  met  them  on  their  own  chosen  battle 
ground.  There  was  no  UNCOMMITTAL  in  that  immortal 
message  which  scattered  confusion  through  their  ranks. 
He  said  to  the  bank  aristocracy,  with  democratic  frank- 
ness, This  is  my  plan.  They  had  no  plan  to  offer,  but 
wasted  their  fury  in  impotent  attacks  upon  his,  like  vipers 
gnawing  at  a  file.  They  could  delay,  but  they  could  not 


THE  CURRENCY. 


defeat  that  wise  and  virtuous  measure  which  seals  our 
independence.  We  have  no  longer  any  thing  to  fear 
from  the  bank,  which  Mr.  Jefferson  called  an  institution 
of  the  "MOST  DEADLY  HOSTILITY  EXISTING 
TO  A  REPUBLICAN  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT." 
From  a  mighty  sovereignty  ambitious  to  dictate  terms  to 
the  nation,  it  has  sunk  to  its  place  upon  the  list  of  fancy 
stocks. 

In  the  pending  contest,  our  country  expects  every  man 
to  do  his  duty.  That  grand  and  original  measure  of  a 
bold  and  wise  policy,  on  which  the  whole  issue  is  staked 
must  and  will  be  sustained.  Liberty,  righteousness  and 
truth  must  triumph.  Then  may  we  trust  in  the  assurance 
that  Independence  is  ours  forever. 


THE     CURRENCY. 

OUR  monopoly,  paper  money,  banking  system  in  its 
best  estate,  when  free  from  derangement,  and  enjoying 
undoubted  credit,  imposes  heavy  taxes  on  the  people. 
The  expenses  of  carrying  on  the  whole  complicated  ma- 
chinery, fall  ultimately  upon  the  consumer  of  the  goods 
which  are  bought  and  sold  by  the  borrowers  from  the 
banks.  As  the  consumer  in  the  country  has  to  pay  in- 
terest on  the  capital  invested  in  these  goods  for  a  much 
longer  time  than  the  consumer  in  the  city,  as  the  poor 
man,  buying  in  smaller  quantities,  pays  a  much  larger 
advance  on  the  first  cost,  and  consequently  on  the  inte- 
rest which  makes  a  part  of  the  cost,  than  the  rich  man  who 
buys  in  larger  quantities,  this  tax,  as  well  as  all  other  tax- 
es levied  on  consumption,  falls  more  nearly  an  equal  im- 
position of  so  much  a  head  on  the  whole  population,  than 
in  any  other  proportion.  The  rent  of  land  and  buildings, 
loss  and  repairs  upon  them,  cost  of  bills,  salaries  of  the 
various  officers,  presidents,  cashiers,  tellers,  clerks,  and 
messengers,  fees  of  notaries  on  protested  notes,  fees  of 
attorneys  on  suits  brought,  all  these  are  paid,  with  inte- 
33 


386  THE  TRUE    AMERICAN. 

rest  on  them  all,  by  the  consumer.  These  charges  in  the 
aggregate  must  considerably  exceed  one  per  cent,  on  the 
capital  employed.  The  capital  stock  of  the  banks  in 
Massachusetts  is  about  forty  millions.  For  the  expenses 
of  these  banks,  then,  we  the  people  pay  of  our  earnings 
more  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 

The  bank  tax  to  the  state  treasury  is  drawn  from  the 
same  source,  and  robs  us  every  year  of  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars  more.  I  shall  be  answered  that  it  de- 
frays the  expenses  of  the  state  ;  what  then  ?  Is  it  just  to 
defray  those  expenses  by  a  capitation  tax?  Ought  they 
not  to  be  borne  in  the  ratio  of  property  ?  But  the  bank 
tax,  just  or  unjust,  even  if  it  cost  the  people  nothing,  has 
been  a  curse  to  this  commonwealth  rather  than  a  blessing. 
It  has  introduced  corruption  into  the  state  government, 
augmenting  its  expenses  more  than  the  whole  amount  re- 
ceived from  the  banks.  In  eighteen  hundred  twenty-four, 
a  committee  of  both  houses  of  our  legislature  reported 
that  the  expenses  of  the  state  were  enormously  great  and 
ought  to  be  diminished.  Ever  since  that  time  they  have 
been  rapidly  increasing.  In  eighteen  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five they  amounted  to  less  than  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  last  year  they  exceeded  six  hundred  thousand ! 
This  we  owe  to  the  bank  tax,  and  to  that  tax  we  owe  the 
present  unparalleled  extension  of  our  banking  system  : 
the  one  per  cent^to  be  annually  paid  to  the  state  opera- 
ting as  a  bribe  whenever  new  charters  were  asked  for. 

The  bank  receives  interest  not  only  on  its  capital,  but 
also  on  that  portion  of  the  debts  it  owes  which  is  repre- 
sented by  its  circulation.  The  people  are  thus  compelled 
to  pay  interest  first  on  what  they  owe  the  banks,  and  se- 
cond on  what  the  banks  owe  them.  For  the  use  of  their 
capital,  it  is  right  that  they  should  receive  a  fair  compen- 
sation, but  the  power  of  putting  their  own  debts  in  cir- 
culation, and  receiving  interest  on  them  as  long  as  they 
remain  unpaid,  is  an  exclusive  privilege  of  the  banks,  and 
a  tax  is  thereby  levied  from  the  people.  The  whole  cir- 
culation of  the  banks  by  the  state  returns  last  September 
was  about  eleven  millions.  The  interest  accruing  on  this 
on  banking  principles  exceeds  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 


THE    CURRENCY.  387 

The  monopoly  which  the  banks  enjoy  raises  the  rate  of 
interest  to  those  who  wish  to  effect  loans  without  recourse 
to  banks,  and  enables  the  favorites  of  those  institutions 
to  take  advantage  of  the  state  of  the  markets,  which 
others,  not  so  favored,  cannot  do.  This  monopoly  is  un- 
doubtedly worth  to  the  bankers  and  their  favorites  much 
more  than  double  the  profit  they  derive  from  their  circu- 
lation. Of  late  years  it  is  the  principal  object  in  esta- 
blishing new  banks.  It  taxes  the  people  more  than  four- 
teen hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

By  the  combined  operation  of  the  banking  system  and 
the  usury  laws,  it  has  become  very  difficult  for  any  one 
not  belonging  to  the  party  of  the  bankers  to  obtain  money 
on  loan  except  through  the  intervention  of  brokers.  The 
profits  paid  to  brokers  for  changing  notes  for  money,  dis- 
count on  uncurrent  notes,  commission  for  negotiating 
loans,  and  the  higher  rate  of  interest  on  money  borrowed 
by  them  at  or  below  the  legal  rate,  and  let  again  for  extra 
interest,  all  these  constitute  another  tax  which  the  bank- 
ing system  levies  on  us.  Whoever  considers  for  how 
small  a  part  of  the  money  let  in  this  state  the  actual 
owner  receives  more  than  legal  interest,  while  two  or 
even  three  per  cent,  a  month  have  been  paid  on  large 
sums  for  a  great  part  of  last  year,  will  not  be  disposed  to 
doubt,  especially  if  he  recollects  that  the  revulsion  in  the 
money  market  returns  regularly  every  three  or  four  years, 
that  this  tax  far  exceeds  three  times  the  profit  of  the  cir- 
culation. It  is  therefore  more  than  two  millions  and  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Bills  lost  or  accidentally  destroyed  are  also  a  tax  on 
the  public.  When  a  government  calls  in  the  metallic 
currency  to  be  recoined  and  reissued,  the  depreciation  by 
friction  and  clipping  is  a  loss  to  the  government.  But 
when  a  bank  calls  in  its  notes,  the  whole  amount  of  bills 
lost,  or  destroyed  by  wear  and  tear,  or  accident,  is  so 
much  clear  gain  to  the  bank ;  and  not  only  so,  but  on 
double  the  amount  of  every  bill  lost  the  bank  receives 
compound  interest  from  the  day  of  its  loss  down  to  the 
close  of  its  own  existence.  Thus,  for  all  its  bills  lost  in 
the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventeen,  the  United 
States  Bank  has  received  eight  times  their  value.  How 


3S8  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

much  the  banks  abstract  from  the  public  in  this  way  can- 
not be  known  until  the  expiration  of  their  charters.  The 
sum  is  no  doubt  large  ;  but  in  the  absence  of  fixed  data, 
I  will  make  no  attempt  to  estimate  it. 

So  also  counterfeit  notes  are  a  tax  on  the  people,  though 
not  to  the  profit  of  the  banks,  yet  apart  of  the  price  we 
have  to  pay  for  the  banking  system,  a  loss  falling  almost 
exclusively  on  persons  of  small  property.  They  are  not 
as  a  class  so  good  judges  of  bills,  and  counterfeiting  is 
mostly  confined  to  small  bills.  There  are  about  two  hun- 
dred known  editions  of  counterfeit  bills  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  about  nine  hundred  editions  of  those 
of  the  local  banks.  How  many  of  each  edition  ever 
passed  into  circulation  we  have  no  means  of  determining, 
but  evidently  many  millions  of  dollars  of  it  have  been 
manufactured,  and  the  loss  which  falls  on  honest  and  un- 
suspecting poverty  must  be  considerable.  It  is  useless  to 
attempt  to  estimate  it. 

The  loss  by  the  failures  of  banks,  which  always  have, 
and  always  will  occasionally  happen,  is  also  a  tax  on  the 
community.  By  Mr.  Gallatin's  tables,  330  banks  were  in 
operation  in  1830,  and  1G5  had  failed  before  that  date  I 
We  boast  of  the  superior  prudence  with  which  our  banks 
are  managed,  and  of  the  safeguards  which  the  laws  have 
established  for  the  protection  of  the  public.  The  greater 
security  of  our  New  England  banking  system  seems  to  be 
as  well  settled  as  that  there  are  fewer  steamboats  blown 
up  on  Long  Island  Sound  than  on  the  Mississippi  river. 
Yet  the  failure  of  the  Farmer's  Exchange,  Berkshire, 
Coos,  Hillsborough,  Keene,  Hallowell  and  Augusta,  Wis 
casset,  Castine,  Belchertown,  Sutton,  Nahant,  and  Chel 
sea  banks,  all  in  New  England,  and  not  to  mention  more, 
are  quite  enough  to  demonstrate  that  such  catastrophes 
are  by  no  means  impossible.  It  would  be  difficult  to  es- 
timate the  total  loss  they  have  occasioned. 

These  are  the  burdens  of  legitimate  paper  money  bank 
ing,  inseparable  from  the  system;  and  before  proceeding 
to  enumerate  the  evils  of  overbanking,  let  us  add  up  these 
items  which  no  one  can  deny  must  always  exist  wherever 
banks,  having  the  exclusive  power  to  issue  paper  money, 
are  to  be  found.  Let  us  look  at  the  aggregate  cost  of 


THE  CURRENCY. 

these  institutions,  and  judge  whether  they  are  worth  it  in 
any  good  we  receive  from  them.  The  account,  so  far,  is 
stated  thus  :  expense  tax,  400,000 ;  state  tax,  400,000 ; 
circulation  tax,  700,000;  monopoly  tax,  1,400,000;  bro- 
kerage tax,  2,100,000 ;  in  all,  $5,000,000— besides  lost 
bills,  forged  bills,  and  bank  failures,  not  estimated,  for 
which  a  round  sum  might  be  justly  added. 

These  FIVE  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS  are  mostly 
the  product  of  hard  labor,  and  by  the  legerdemain  of  pa- 
per money  they  are  transferred  to  the  pockets  of  the  note 
makers.  Thus  a  tax  is  levied  on  the  inhabitants  of  this 
commonwealth  of  about  seven  dollars  a  head,  or  from 
thirty-five  to  forty  dollars  for  each  family.  What  feudal 
nobility  ever  gathered  a  larger  tribute  from  its  vassals  ? 

There  are  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  able  bod- 
ied men  in  this  state,  the  average  wages  of  whose  labor 
cannot  exceed  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year.  That 
rate  would  give  a  total  of  forty-five  millions  :  so  that  the 
manufacturers  of  paper  money  and  their  associates  con- 
vert to  their  own  use  one  ninth  part  of  the  wages  of 
labor.  This  they  do  without  rendering  any  equivalent, 
for  this  whole  tax  is  exclusive  of  a  fair  interest  on  the 
actual  capital  loaned. 

A  large  majority  of  those  who  earn  the  wages  of  labor 
are  unable  to  add  to  them  the  wages  of  skill,  and  very 
few  receive  the  still  higher  wages  of  machinery,  yet  all 
bear  the  burden  alike.  Though  persevering  industry  and 
rigid  economy  will  enable  a  man  living  solely  by  the 
labor  of  his  hands  to  accumulate  something,  even  under 
such  disadvantages,  yet  slow  and  hard  must  be  the  pro- 
cess, and  it  is  evident  that  many  can  never  extricate 
themselves  from  a  hopeless  poverty  who  might  rise,  were 
this  weight  removed  ;  and  that  many  who  now  attain  a 
competence  only  when  old  age  is  unfitting  them  to  enjoy 
it,  might  have  found  themselves  in  easy  circumstances  of 
pecuniary  independence,  in  early  manhood,  if  the  paper 
money  tax  had  not  borne  them  down. 

We  are  yet  upon  the  threshold  of  our  investigation. 

We  have  examined  the  effects  of  our  system  of  banking 

in  its  ordinary  and  natural  operation  merely.     We  have 

not  yet  touched  upon  the  effects  of  ovcrbanking.     We 

33* 


390  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

have,  it  is  true,  seen  enough  to  give  us  some  faint  con- 
ception of  the  injury  a  paper  currency  inflicts  on  the 
community,  but  its  most  odious  and  alarming  character- 
istics remain  to  be  exposed.  We  will  develop  to  the 
view  its  calamities,  its  convulsions,  its  agrarianism,  its 
paralyzing,  desolating,  withering  influence.  Before  we 
have  concluded  our  inquiries  we  shall  be  satisfied  that 
there  is  no  other  evil  in  the  land,  except  intemperance, 
that  can  be  compared  for  magnitude  with  paper  money  ; 
there  is  no  other  cause  so  fruitful  of  misery,  pauperism 
and  crime. 

The  first  effect  of  overbanking  is  wild  speculations, 
the  weight  of  which  falls  as  a  tax  on  the  consumers  of 
all  foreign  and  domestic  products.  Banks,  by  issuing 
paper,  cheapen  the  currency,  and  of  course  raise  prices : 
rising  prices  tempt  more  purchasers  into  the  market,  and 
the  competition  of  purchasers  runs  up  the  prices  still 
higher.  The  banks  furnish  funds  to  the  speculators,  and 
enable  them  to  hold  on  their  purchases,  in  order  to  profit 
by  the  rise.  The  enhanced  prices  take  so  much  out  of 
the  pocket  of  the  consumer,  for  which  he  receives  no 
equivalent. 

In  1830,  the  bank  capital  of  the  United  States  was  ONE 
HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-FIVE  MILLIONS  :  in  »1836,  it  had 
risen  to  THREE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY- 
EIGHT  MILLIONS  :  it  is  now  probably  about  TRE- 
BLE its  amount  seven  years  ago.  The  paper  circulation 
in  1830  was  SIXTY-ONE  MILLIONS  :  in  1836,  it  was  ONE 
HUNDRED  AND  FORTY  MILLIONS,  the  highest 
point  it  reached  was  probably  about  ONE  HUNDRED 
AND  EIGHTY-SIX  MILLIONS.  In  1830,  the  loans 
and  discounts  of  the  banks  amounted  to  about  TWO  HUN- 
DRED MILLIONS  :  in  1836,  they  were  FOUR  HUNDRED 
AND  FIFTY-SEVEN  MILLIONS  :  they  have  since 
exceeded  FIVE  HUNDRED  AND  NINETY  MIL- 
LIONS. The  bank  capital,  circulation,  and  discounts, 
having  more  than  doubled,  and  indeed  nearly  trebled,  in 
less  than  seven  years  time,  the  immense  and  unparalleled 
speculations  we  have  witnessed,  have  been  the  necessary 
result.  Sales  of  public  lands  rose  from  less  than  two  and 
a  half  millions  in  1830,  to  more  than  twenty-four  mil 


THE    CURRENCY.  391 

lions  In  1836.  Lands  in  Maine  were  purchased  in  vast 
quantities  at  ten  times  their  former  prices.  House  lots 
enough  were  laid  out  to  accommodate  two  or  three  times 
the  present  population  of  the  nation.  The  land  imme- 
diately about  New  York,  and  within  ten  miles  of  that 
city,  which  in  1830  was  valued  at  ten  millions  of  dollars, 
changed  hands  at  prices  which  would  have  made  trie 
whole  amount  to  over  one  hundred  millions.  Our  imports 
increased  from  seventy  millions  in  1830,  to  one  hundred 
and  ninety  millions  in  1836.  Prices  of  all  articles  of 
consumption  rose,  some  forty,  some  sixty,  and  many  a 
hundred  per  cent.  But  the  wages  of  labor,  fixed  salaries, 
and  compensation  for  services  of  all  kinds  are  the  last  to 
rise,  and  the  first  to  fall,  in  a  general  change  of  prices, 
nor  do  they  fluctuate  half  so  much  as  articles  of  mer- 
chandise. Laboring  men  therefore  suffer  most  by  the 
rise  of  prices  which  speculation  occasions.  Those  who 
live  on  fixed  salaries,  or  receive  fixed  fees,  or  enjoy  the 
fixed  income  or  interest  of  funds  invested,  suffer  next,  in 
the  enormous  tax  levied  by  speculators. 

But  all  this  is  independent  of  the  fortunes  lost  by  those 
engaged  in  trade  and  commerce,  and  the  sacrifice  sub- 
mitted to  by  one  of  the  parties  to  every  contract,  by  the 
fluctuations  in  the  money  market,  which  follow  each 
other  at  intervals  of  about  three  years,  rising  and  falling 
with  as  much  regularity  as  the  billows  of  the  ocean,  and 
having  always  a  smaller  series  of  intermediate  waves 
between  the  billows.  These  fluctuations  are  the  natural 
result  of  the  banking  system,  and  will  always  grow  out 
of  it.  When  confidence  begins  to  return  after  one  of 
our  terrible  convulsions,  prices,  from  the  mere  fact  that 
they  had  fallen  too  low,  begin  to  rise.  This  gives  busi- 
ness an  impulse,  and  disposes  dealers  to  borrow  money 
and  make  purchases.  There  is  a  competition  between 
those  who  wish  to  supply  themselves,  as  they  are  all  anx- 
ious to  lay  in  their  stock  of  goods  before  there  is  any 
essential  advance.  The  banks  are  willing  to  loan  freely 
for  this  purpose,  because  purchasers  at  the  low  prices 
being  perfectly  safe,  they  are  secure  of  repayment.  Each 
bank  can  enlarge  its  discounts  and  loans,  because,  as  all 
the  other  banks  are  doing  the  same,  its  bills  are  not  forced 


392  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

home  upon  it  for  redemption.  The  more  money  is  issued, 
the  more  purchasers  are  made;  and  prices  rise  both  from 
depreciation  of  the  currency,  and  from  the  briskness  of 
the  demand.  The  faster  prices  rise,  the  more  pressing 
will  be  the  applications  to  the  banks  for  loans ;  and  the 
banks,  as  their  first  object  is  to  make  large  dividends, 
will  grant  these  applications  as  long  as  confidence  con- 
tinues. New  banks  are  created  :  old  banks  push  to  the 
verge  of  prudence.  More  goods  are  imported,  more 
goods  are  manufactured,  production  of  every  kind  is 
over-stimulated. 

There  must,  however,  be  a  pause  in  this  progress. 
Either  from  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  specie  be- 
comes of  less  value  here  than  abroad,  and  is  therefore  ex- 
ported ;  or  the  market  is  so  glutted  with  products,  that 
buyers  are  indifferent  about  taking  them  off  the  hands  of 
holders,  in  which  case  a  competition  arises  among  the 
sellers  which  runs  down  prices;  or  a  suspicion  springs  up 
in  the  mind  of  capitalists,  or  of  the  bankers  themselves, 
and  finally  of  the  whole  community,  that  prices  artificially 
high  are  unsafe,  and  must  fall.  From  whatever  cause  it 
happens,  when  once  confidence  is  shaken,  the  banks,  will- 
ing or  unwilling,  must  contract.  They  find  themselves 
in  a  precarious  situation,  and  to  fortify  themselves,  they 
call  in  their  paper,  and  diminish  their  discounts.  Contrac- 
tion once  begun,  must  go  on,  by  a  necessity  as  irresistible 
as  the  decree  of  fate,  for  every  bank  sends  home  the  paper 
of  every  other  bank.  By  the  contraction,  money  is  re- 
stored to  its  true  value,  prices  are  reduced  again,  and  the 
improvident,  surprised  with  large  stocks  on  hand,  are 
ruined. 

It  is  in  the  power  of  a  combination  of  banks,  or  of  one 
mammoth  bank,  to  increase  these  periodical  fluctuations, 
ox  to  create  lesser  intermediate  vibrations,  for  their  own 
advantage,  at  pleasure.  In  June,  1819,  a  leading  press, 
Niles's  Register,  complained,  and  justly  too,  that  "  We 
have  now  indubitable  evidence  that  twenty-five  men  at 
Philadelphia  can  make  money  plenty  at  their  own  will 
and  discretion — an  immense  command  over  the  nation, 
by  fixing  the  value  of  every  acre  of  land,  and  of  any 
other  species  of  property,  from  the  lowest  point  of  Flori- 


THE    CURRENCY.  393 

da,  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods."  It  might  with  more  truth 
have  been  alleged  four  years  ago  that  one  man  in  Phila- 
delphia possessed  this  power,  and  the  nation  felt  soon  af- 
terwards that  he  did  not  scruple  to  use  it. 

A  bank  with  a  capital  of  thirty-five  millions  can  make 
its  managers  and  their  favorites  rich,  at  a  single  operation, 
by  making  money  alternately  plenty  and  scarce.  Having 
first  secured  large  loans  to  its  favorites  as  a  permanent 
accommodation  for  twelve  months  or  more,  they  then 
contract  their  discounts  suddenly.  This  compels  all  the 
lesser  banks  to  curtail  their  accommodations  and  collect 
their  debts  rapidly.  In  three  or  four  months'  time  this 
sinks  prices  a  fourth  or  even  a  third.  Then  the  mana- 
gers invest  their  funds  to  the  best  advantage,  and  the  ar- 
rangements being  completed,  the  bank  floods  the  country 
with  its  notes  again,  and  the  lesser  banks  freed  from  the 
pressure  of  balances  against  them,  follow  its  example; 
and  money  instantly  abounds,  and  property  assumes  higher 
values  than  before  its  fall.  The  speculators  sell  at  the 
highest  point,  the  bank  itself  furnishing  the  purchasers 
with  funds  if  necessary.  When  the  golden  harvest  is 
fully  reaped,  they  may  make  money  scarce  again,  and 
prepare  for  another. 

In  describing  this  process,  Mr.  Niles,  in  1819,  used 
this  strong  language.  "  At  the  end  of  the  year,  the  man- 
agers in  the  scheme  realize  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  each,  which  they  may  be  said  as  com- 
pletely to  rob  the  people  of,  as  if,  with  pistol  in  hand, 
they  took  the  money  from  travellers  on  the  highway.  In- 
deed the  last  should  be  considered  the  most  honorable.  " 
These  expressions  are  too  severe ;  they  were  wrung  from 
sober  men  at  that  time,  by  the  torture  which  the  United 
States  Bank  inflicted,  when  it  first  regulated  the  currency, 
much  as  one  might  regulate  the  packing  of  gunpowder, 
by  clapping  a  coal  of  fire  into  a  cask  of  that  article. 
The  bank  no  sooner  touched  the  currency  than  a  univer- 
sal explosion  ensued,  scattering  the  broken  fragments  of 
credit  over  the  south  and  west,  and  covering  the  land 
with  the  wreck  of  blasted  hopes,  enterprise  arrested, 
commerce  stagnant,  industry  prostrate,  mutual  confidence 
annihilated,  and  the  whole  business  intercourse  of  soci- 


394  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ety  thrown  into  a  chaos  of  irremediable  confusion.  Mr. 
Niles's  phrase  was,  "  the  bank  was  saved,  but  the  country 
was  ruined."  Their  agony  under  the  screws  of  the  great 
engine  may  excuse  the  sufferers  under  the  first  regulation 
for  the  intemperate  warmth  of  such  remarks.  The  vic- 
tim broken  on  the  wheel  is  not  expected  to  groan  with 
grace  and  decorum.  It  is  fashionable,  now-a-days,  to 
speak  more  tenderly  and  respectfully  of  this  mode  of 
conveying  one  man's  property  into  another  man's  pocket, 
and  no  one,  I  think,  would  venture  to  compare  it  with 
highway  robbery. 

It  is  neither  to  be  asserted  nor  intimated,  because  it 
cannot  be  proved,  that  the  directors  of  banks,  often,  with 
a  deliberate  design,  create  a  pressure  in  order  to  take 
advantage  of  it,  as  just  now  described  :  but  the  effect  on 
the  community,  of  the  fluctuations  produced  by  banks,  is 
of  the  same  nature,  even  in  the  absence,  which  we  be- 
lieve is  generally  the  case,  of  any  injurious  intention  on 
the  part  of  the  managers  of  those  institutions.  In  times 
of  scarcity,  the  directors  and  their  friends  are  naturally 
accommodated  before  strangers.  Those  who  stand  at 
the  source  of  the  stream  drink  first.  With  scarce  mo- 
ney, they  buy  at  low  prices.  When  prices  are  rising, 
and  money  easy,  then  it  is  that  the  banks  discount  freely, 
because  they  then  can  do  it,  not  being  pressed  or  run 
upon.  Then  it  is  that  the  knowing  ones  sell,  because 
then  they  can  sell  highest,  and  pay  their  debts  to  the 
banks,  because  just  then  a  loan  is  no  favor.  A  large 
balance  of  profit  remains  in  their  hands,  and  as  soon  as  a 
falling  market  and  contracted  issues  have  brought  about 
the  proper  moment  to  enter  on  a  new  speculation,  they 
are  ready  to  borrow  and  buy  again. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  favored  borrowers  from  banks 
who  tax  the  people  through  these  fluctuations ;  if  it  were, 
that  tax  has  been  reckoned  already  in  speaking  of  the 
ndvantage  they  gain  from  their  monopoly.  But  the 
whole  amount  of  property  transferred  by  the  fluctuation, 
vast  as  it  is,  is  a  tax  on  the  losers,  which  the  banking  sys- 
tem has  enabled  the  gainers  to  levy  on  them. 

A  great  crime,  a  national  crime,  has  been  committed, 
and  is  still  persisted  in — the  crime  of  cheating  the  labor- 


THE    CURRENCY.  305 

ing  classes  by  the  delusion  of  paper  money.  Who  then 
are  guilty  of  this  heinous  crime?  for  the  innocent  must 
not  share  the  shame ;  who  are  the  guilty  1 

Not  every  stockholder  of  a  bank,  not  every  officer  of  a 
bank,  not  every  borrower  from  a  bank,  not  every  tra- 
der, or  capitalist,  who  has  profited  by  the  fluctuations 
caused  by  a  paper  currency.  O,  no !  We  should  do 
them  great  injustice  if  we  set  down  all  these  as  our 
enemies,  when  among  them  are  many  of  our  best  friends 
— friends  who  are  ready  to  witness  their  sincerity  by 
cheerfully  submitting  to  great  sacrifices  to  restore  a 
wholesome  currency.  The  system  is  riveted  upon  us. 
It  has  insinuated  itself  into  all  business  intercourse,  so 
that  no  business  man  can  keep  clear  of  it,  any  more 
than  he  could  keep  clear  of  cold,  if  he  had  been  born  in 
the  frigid  zone,  or  of  heat  on  the  sands  of  the  great  de- 
sert, for  paper  money  is  all  pervading  as  the  atmosphere. 
We  might  as  well  proscribe  every  man  who  takes  a  bank 
bill,  as  every  man  who  owns  a  bank  share,  or  assists  in 
managing  a  bank,  for  it  is  the  bill  holders,  ultimately,  who 
produce  the  fluctuations  :  if  they  refused  to  receive  paper, 
it  could  not  be  issued.  There  are  thousands,  tens  of 
thousands,  who  abhor  irredeemable  paper,  and  will  go  as 
far  as  any  man  to  suppress  the  mischief,  but  who  cannot, 
so  long  as  bad  legislation  forces  it  upon  them,  disentan- 
gle themselves  from  the  system,  without  neglecting  duties 
they  are  bound  to  discharge,  and  abandoning  the  station 
in  which  Providence  has  placed  them.  A  sober  man  may 
disapprove  of  war,  and  of  all  preparation  for  war,  yet 
if  the  government  has  established  a  powder  magazine 
in  the  heart  of  his  village,  it  is  better  that  he  should 
keep  it  than  a  drunkard  or  a  lunatic.  In  the  debate 
on  the  charter  of  the  United  States  Bank,  John  Ran- 
dolph said,  that  he  owned  no  stock  whatever,  except 
live  stock,  and  had  determined  never  to  own  any ;  but  if 
this  bill  passed,  he  would  not  only  be  a  stockholder  to  the 
utmost  of  his  power,  but  would  advise  every  man,  over 
whom  he  had  any  influence,  to  do  the  same,  because  it 
was  the  creation  of  a  great  privileged  order  of  the  most 
hateful  kind  to  his  feelings,  and  because  he  would  rather 
be  the  master  than  the  slave.  Without  going  quite  this 


396  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

length  with  Mr.  Randolph,  many  feel  justified  in  defend- 
ing themselves  with  the  same  weapons  with  which  they 
are  attacked,  though  anxious  to  prohibit  the  use  of  those 
weapons  to  all.  These  are  on  our  side,  and  we  must  not 
make  war  upon  them,  for  without  their  assistance  we  shall 
never  be  able  to  reduce  the  trade  in  money  to  an  equal 
footing  with  all  other  trades.  To  whom  then  does  the 
guilt  belong,  for  it  must  fall  somewhere  1 

To  those  who  fastened  the  system  on  us,  who  uphold 
and  defend  it,  who  oppose  all  efforts  to  abolish  it  or  miti- 
gate its  evils,  who  are  determined  to  perpetuate  it,  with 
all  its  most  grievous  abuses.  To  all  who  sustain  it  by 
their  votes  in  the  national  or  state  legislatures.  To  all 
who  vote  for  the  bank  candidate  for  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States;  the  bank  candidates  for  congress;  the  bank 
candidate  for  governor ;  the  paper  money  partisans  for 
state  senators  and  representatives.  Among  these  are 
thousands  who  own  no  bank  stock,  and  who  groan  under 
the  curses  they  invite.  If  they  kneel  for  the  rider  to 
mount,  who  can  pity  them  when  they  feel  the  spurs  1 

Who  have  fastened  the  system  upon  us?  Clearly  those 
who  profit  by  it,  the  aristocratic,  or  whig  party,  so  called 
because  they  somewhat  resemble  the  party  in  Great  Bri- 
tain thus  described  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  "  THE 
STRENGTH  OF  THE  WHIGS  LAY  IN  THE 
GREAT  ARISTOCRACY,  IN  THE  CORPORA- 
TIONS, AND  IN  THE  TRADING  OR  MONEYED 
INTERESTS."  Look  at  their  course  in  Massachu- 
setts. In  the  spring  session  of  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirty-five  there  were  many  petitions  for  new  banks.  Some 
few  whig  presidents  and  directors  of  banks  opposed  peti- 
tions asking  for  a  share  in  their  monopoly;  but  the  ma~ 
jority  of  the  whig  party  voted  to  grant  them.  The  whole 
democratic  party  opposed  them,  as  did  many  nominal 
whigs,  with  democratic  consciences,  from  among  the 
yeomanry,  and  they  were  defeated.  All  the  support  they 
received  came  from  whigs,  the  most  ardent  opposition 
they  encountered  was  from  democrats.  If  one  fourth 
part  of  the  democrats  in  the  legislature  had  supported 
them,  they  would  all  have  passed,  and  a  numerous  litter 
of  banks  would  that  year  have  cursed  the  state. 


THE    CURRENCY.  397 

The  aristocracy  has  lately  come  before  the  country 
more  distinctly  than  ever  as  the  bank  party.  The  coali- 
lition  evidently  intend  to  fight  over  again  the  battle  for  a 
national  bank  in  which  they  were  defeated  in  eighteen 
hundred  and  thirty-two.  They  cannot  at  this  moment 
agree  upon  the  precise  plan  of  the  institution  they  would 
establish,  and  the  difficulty  of  determining  the  details 
may  cause  some  delay  in  bringing  forward  their  project ; 
but  the  hope  of  a  national  bank  is  their  only  bond  of 
union.  The  whigs  profess  that  the  revolution  of  1688, 
from  which  they  derive  their  name,  "  was  a  revolution  in 
favor  of  property."  They  believe  that  "  it  is  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  found  government  on  property."  They  "  avow 
their  belief  that  in  a  great  majority  of  cases,  the  posses- 
sion of  property  is  the  proof  of  merit."  They  hope  to 
become  much  more  meritorious,  if  the  government  can 
be  founded  on  their  property,  by  creating  a  national  bank, 
and  investing  it  with  controlling  power. 

A  national  bank  cures  none  of  the  evils  of  paper  mo- 
ney banking,  but  enhances  them  all.  It  increases  all  the 
expenses  of  the  system,  for  the  great  bank,  being  on  a 
more  magnificent  scale  than  any  other,  sets  an  example 
of  extravagance  to  all  the  rest,  which  by  degrees  they 
follow.  It  vastly  increases  the  fluctuations  of  the  cur- 
rency, for  the  smaller  institutions  bank  upon  its  paper  as 
they  otherwise  would  upon  specie ;  and  as  this  paper  is 
much  more  easily  obtained  than  specie,  while  the  bank  is 
expanding,  it  makes  the  general  expansion  more  rapid ; 
and  as  it  is  more  suddenly  withdrawn  than  specie,  when 
the  great  bank  contracts,  it  makes  the  general  contrac- 
tion more  sudden.  If  the  state  banks  issued  paper  on  a 
specie  basis,  the  fluctuations  of  the  paper  currency  would 
still  be  a  great  evil ;  but  how  much  greater  must  be  the 
fluctuation,  when  the  basis  itself  is  an  elastic  medium, 
which  expands  when  it  ought  to  contract,  and  contracts 
when  it  ought  to  expand  ?  It  of  course  increases  the  de- 
preciation, which  must  be  greater  in  proportion  as  the 
whole  amount  of  paper  out  exceeds  the  specie. 

That  such  an  institution  fosters  more  than   any  other 
the  spirit  of  speculation  is  too  evident  to  need  proof.    The 
larger  the  bank,  the  more  enormous  will  be  the  specula- 
34 


398  THB    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tions  it  occasions,  and  these  enormous  speculations,  de- 
ranging prices,  will  engender  innumerable  smaller  opera- 
tions of  a  similar  character.  April  9th,  1832,  the  loans 
of  the  mother  bank,  at  Philadelphia,  made  that  day, 
were — 

In  1  loan,  over  $400,000         $417,766 

4  loans  not  less  than       200,000  995,456 

3     "      "      "      "          100,000  341,729 

19     "      "      "      "  50,000        1,274,882 

72     "      "      "      "  20,000        2,404,278 


$5,434,111 

leaving  less  than  a  tenth  part  of  this  amount,  $529,974 
only,  to  be  divided  in  sums  less  than  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  among  all  the  rest  of  the  community.  The  spe- 
culations into  which  men  launch  with  such  facilities,  ter- 
minate in  bankruptcies  of  a  proportionate  magnitude. 

A  national  bank  is  the  great  parent  of  forgery.  Small 
banks  having  a  local  circulation,  their  bills  are  less  ex- 
tensively counterfeited,  because  the  chance  of  detection 
is  greater,  the  fraud  sooner  becomes  impossible,  the  field 
to  operate  in  is  not  so  wide.  From  1797  to  1819,  the  pro- 
secutions for  counterfeit  notes  of  the  Bank  of  England 
were  nine  hundred  and  ninety-eight  ;  the  convictions 
were  eight  hundred  and  forty-three,  of  which  three  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  were  capital.  The  counterfeit  notes 
detected  at  the  bank  alone,  during  six  years  and  three 
months  of  that  time,  were  107,238  one  pound  notes, 
17,787  two  do.,  5,826  five  do.,  419  ten  do.,  54  twenty 
do.,  35  above  twenty  pounds.  If  more  than  twenty  thou- 
sand a  year  are  detected  at  the  bank,  how  shall  we  esti- 
mate the  numbers  detected  elsewhere  ? 

The  verdict  of  history  is  decisive  against  national 
banks.  The  Royal  Bank  of  France  was  one  of  the  most 
flattering  and  fatal  delusions.  Never  was  a  financier 
more  popular  than  John  Law,  its  founder.  Never  was  a 
country  more  prosperous  than  France  seemed  before 
that  bubble  burst.  An,  eminent  French  writer  of  that 
time  called  the  projector  "  a  minister  far  above  all  that 
the  past  age  has  known,  that  the  present  can  conceive,  or 
that  the  future  will  believe."  All  France  was  seized  with 


THE    CURRENCY.  399 

a  rage  for  speculation.  "  All  the  world,"  says  Postle- 
thwaite,  "  ran  to  Paris."  There  were  half  a  million  of 
new  comers  in  the  city.  Twelve  hundred  new  coaches 
were  set  up.  As  fast  as  new  blocks  and  streets  could  be 
built  up,  lodgings  could  not  be  had.  The  reaction  shook 
the  social  fabric  to  its  base.  Gloom  and  despair  were 
inmates  with  every  household.  Four  hundred  thousand 
fortunes  had  been  sacrificed,  and  the  state  loaded  itself 
with  a  specie  debt  of  sixteen  hundred  and  thirty-one  mil- 
lions of  livres.  The  amount  of  its  paper  in  circulation 
at  the  time  of  the  crash  was  four  hundred  and  nineteen 
millions  of  dollars,  not  so  much  beyond  our  own  paper 
circulation,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  as  the  terms 
in  which  this  bank  is  usually  described  would  naturally 
imply,  while  the  specie  thrown  into  the  bank  in  March 
and  April,  1720,  exceeded  fifty-six  millions  of  dollars,  an 
accession  of  hard  money  such  as  our  banks  never  re- 
ceived, in  so  short  a  time.  John  Law  died  at*Venice,  in 
1729,  never  relinquishing  for  a  moment  the  firmest  con- 
viction of  the  solidity  of  his  system,  the  disastrous  failure 
of  which  he  attributed  entirely  to  the  malice  of  his  ene- 
mies ;  and  thousands  of  his  disciples  entertained  the 
same  belief  for  many  years. 

The  present  bank  of  France  was  established  in  1803  ; 
and  though,  issuing  no  small  notes,  its  circulation  is  com- 
paratively steady,  yet  it  has  twice  produced  considerable 
distress ;  in  1806,  when  it  occasioned  numerous  failures, 
and  again  in  1814,  when  it  became  so  embarrassed  that 
the  government  were  obliged  to  limit  its  specie  payments. 

But  the  Bank  of  England  is  the  model  of  American 
bankers.  Its  history  is  full  of  instruction  and  warning. 
In  1693,  in  the  midst  of  national  disasters,  both  the  peo- 
ple and  the  ministry  were  weary  of  the  war,  which  pro- 
duced nothing  but  disgrace,  but  which  William  was  ob- 
stinately bent  upon  continuing.  He  therefore  brought  in 
a  whig  ministry,  whom  he  expected  to  find  tractable, 
partly  from  the  ambition  of  being  courted  by  the  crown, 
and  partly  from  the  prospect  of  gain  from  advancing 
money  to  the  government.  The  most  scandalous  prac- 
tices in  the  mystery  of  corruption  were  at  that  time  exer- 
cised in  grants,  places,  pensions,  and  salaries  to  members, 


400 


THE    TECE    AMERICAN. 


whereby  the  House  of  Commons  was  so  managed  that 
the  king  could  quash  all  grievances,  stifle  the  examination 
of  accounts,  and  defeat  any  bill.  When  these  practices 
were  exposed,  mere  shame  forced  through  both  houses  a 
bill  for  free  and  impartial  proceedings  in  parliament,  to 
which  bill,  the  king,  with  the  concurrence  of  his  whig 
ministry,  to  whose  existence  corruption  was  essential, 
applied  his  veto.  Corruption  being  thus  perpetuated,  a 
majority  was  secured  in  both  houses,  and  the  scheme  of 
the  bank  brought  forward,  and  the  charter  granted  in 
1694.  Its  whole  capital  was  a  loan  to  the  government ; 
its  immediate  object  was  to  assist  the  government  in  car- 
rying on  an  unpopular  war.  Its  ultimate  effects  were 
distinctly  foretold  by  the  opposition,  but  the  power  of 
corruption  prevailed. 

From  the  year  1797  to  1817,  the  metallic  currency  of 
the  world  had  slightly  diminished,  while  the  business  to 
be  transacted  had  greatly  increased  ;  prices  ought  there- 
fore to  have  fallen,  instead  of  rising.  Improvements  in 
agriculture  had  more  than  kept  pace  with  the  increase 
of  population ;  for  this  reason  also  the  prices  of  wheat 
should  have  fallen.  War  no  doubt  raises  the  price,  but 
the  war  was  raging  in  1794  and  1795,  when  the  price 
was  under  fifty  shillings ;  and  the  country  was  at  peace 
in  1817,  when  the  price  was  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  shillings.  Corn  laws  go  but  little  way  to  account 
for  the  fluctuations — they  must  be  mainly  owing  to  bank 
paper. 

Compare  the  circulation  of  the  bank  and  the  price  of 
wheat  for  a  few  years,  and  see  whether  you  can  doubt 
that  they  are  cause  and  effect.  The  circulation  of  bank 
notes 

in  1787  was  .£8,688,570,  wheat  was  49s. 


1790 
1795 
1805 
1810 
1817 


10,217,360, 
13,539,160, 
18,397,880, 
21,000,000, 
30,099,908, 


57  10 

77    5 

106  — 

116    2 

124  — 


After  Parliament  had  determined  in  1819  that  the  bank 
should  resume  specie  payment,  it  began  to  diminish  its 
circulation,  which  was  brought  down  to  ,£18,000,000,  a 


THE    CURRENCY.  401 

less  sum,  in  proportion  to  the  business  done,  than  the 
circulation  of  1795.  Accordingly  wheat  fell,  and  for  ten 
years  after  1819  it  averaged  seventy  shillings.  As  thirty 
millions  are  to  eighteen  millions,  so  are  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  shillings  to  seventy-four  shillings  :  so  that 
wheat  fell  more  than  bank  notes  diminished,  the  increased 
business  to  be  done  giving  a  higher  value  to  money. 

"  The  average  money  price  of  corn  regulates  more  or 
less  that  of  all  other  commodities,"  says  Adam  Smith  ; 
we  may  judge,  then,  what  universal  distress  this  bank 
produced  by  raising  prices.  We  are  not  left  to  conjec- 
ture the  effects;  they  are  matter  of  record.  The  years 
1812  and  1817  are  the  two  years  in  which  wheat  reached 
the  highest  price  it  had  borne  for  nearly  six  centuries, 
since  the  great  famine  of  the  year  1270.  These  were 
two  years  when  the  taxes  were  comparatively  light,  par- 
ticularly 1817.  In  1815,  for  instance,  the  taxes  were 
£79,948,670,  while  in  1812,  they  were  £70,435,679,  and 
in  1817,  they  were  only  £55,836,257.  The  distress 
which  existed  then  was  produced  by  the  high  price  of 
wheat,  in  spite  of  lighter  taxation.  Yet  Mr.  Huskisson 
singled  out  these  two  years,  as  those  in  which  the  pres- 
sure was  most  severe.  These  were  his  words  :  "  If  dis- 
tress bordering  upon  famine,  if  misery  bursting  forth  in 
insurrection,  and  all  the  other  symptoms  of  wretchedness, 
discontent,  and  difficulty,  are  to  be  taken  as  symptoms  of 
pressure  upon  the  people  ;  then  I  should  say,  that  1812 
and  1817  were  two  years,  of  which  no  good  man  can 
ever  wish  to  witness  the  like  again." 

Thus  has  this  institution  taken  the  bread  out  of  the 
mouths  of  the  poor,  literally  and  fatally.  In  Barton's 
poor-law  tables  the  connection  is  shown  between  the  high 
price  of  wheat  and  the  increase  of  mortality.  In  seven 
manufacturing  districts  in  England,  when  wheat  was  118s. 
3d.  there  were  55,965  deaths  in  a  year  ;  three  years  later, 
when  wheat  had  fallen  to  60s.  Id.  there  were  but  44,794 
deaths  in  the  same  districts.  An  extensive  comparison 
between  prices  and  mortality  demonstrates  the  fact,  that 
nothing  tends  more  to  prolong  the  average  duration  of 
life  than  the  cheapness  of  good  wholesome  bread.  In- 
deed, proof  of  this  truth  is  before  us  all,  in  the  extraor* 
34* 


402  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

dinary  longevity  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  agricultural  vil- 
lages of  New  England. 

Sin  and  death  are  nearly  related.  What  has  been  the 
effect  of  the  Bank  of  England  on  crime?  The  year  1817 
was  that  in  which  the  amount  of  bank  notes  was  greatest, 
and  that  year  is  as  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  the 
criminal  law  as  in  the  history  of  the  bank.  In  the  year 
1817,  the  number  of  criminal  prosecutions  suddenly  rose 
from  about  8000  to  about  14,000 ;  the  number  of  persons 
condemned  to  death,  from  890  to  1302  ;  of  persons  trans- 
ported to  New  Holland,  from  1054  to  1734.  Want  of 
employment,  poverty,  and  hunger,  all  springing  from  high 
prices,  and  the  deranged  currency,  caused  these  addi- 
tional crimes.  In  June,  1823,  after  the  resumption  of 
specie  payments,  Sir  Robert  Peel  made  the  following 
statements  to  parliament.  In  1817,  seven  out  of  nine 
of  the  manufacturing  class  were  unemployed ;  in  1823, 
none.  In  Sheffield,  the  poor  rates,  in  1820,  were  .£36,000 ; 
in  1S23,  only  .£13,000.  In  1817,  there  were  1600 
houses  empty;  in  1823,  none.  In  Birmingham,  in  1817, 
of  84,000  inhabitants,  27,500  received  aid  from  the  poor 
fund  ;  a  third  part  of  the  workmen  had  no  occupation ; 
the  remainder  were  only  half  employed ;  the  poor  rates 
amounted  to  about  ,£60,000.  In  1823,  all  the  workmen 
were  employed ;  the  poor  rates  amounted  to  only  ,£20,000. 
The  weekly  pay  of  weavers,  which  in  1817,  had  sunk  to 
three  shillings  and  three  pence,  now  rose  to  ten,  and 
sometimes  to  sixteen  shillings.  The  exports  had  in- 
creased, and  disturbances  ceased. 

The  mode  in  which  paper  money  fluctuation,  such  as 
the  Bank  of  England  begets,  grinds  the  independent  poor 
into  pauperism,  has  been  fully  explained  already.  British 
pauperism  is  the  offspring  of  the  bank.  There  were  not 
two  hundred  thousand  paupers  in  England  and  Wales, 
when  the  bank  begun  to  grind;  in  1810  there  were 
twelve  hundred  thousand,  and  the  bank  ground  harder 
after  that.  The  poor  rates  were  but  small  in  the  time  of 
*  King  William ;  but  in  1827  they  were  about  thirty-eight 
millions  of  dollars. 

The  madman  who  scatters  firebrands,  arrows,  and 
death,  and  says,  Am  I  not  in  sport  ?  is  innocent  and  lovely 


THE    CURRENCY.  403 

compared  with  the  monster  that  inflicts  these  miseries  on 
the  British  people.  It  sucks  the  blood  from  their  veins, 
the  marrow  from  their  bones  :  it  makes  them  bond  slaves, 
and  mocks  at  their  unpaid  toil,  till  exhausted  nature  sinks 
into  an  early  grave.  It  is  such  an  incarnation  of  active, 
all-pervading,  unremitted  cruelty,  that  our  whig  nobility 
worship  ;  that  they  desire  to  see  enthroned  over  us  ;  and 
upon  whose  altar  they  are  ready  to  sacrifice  the  proper- 
ties, morals,  lives,  and  liberties  of  American  citizens. 

The  Bank  of  England  has  generally  had  no  actual 
capital,  no,  not  a  farthing,  for  the  purposes  of  trade.  Its 
loans  and  advances  to  the  government  have,  during  almost 
the  whole  of  its  existence,  exceeded  its  whole  capital ;  so 
that  it  wrings  from  the  people,  by  the  machinery  of  paper 
money,  the  whole  of  that  immense  wealth,  on  which  its 
stockholders  fatten  ;  and  through  which  it  has  sometimes 
been,  to  use  the  expression  of  one  of  its  friends,  "  strong 
enough  to  take  the  government  on  its  shoulders."  In 
such  precarious  strength  there  is  inherent  weakness ;  and 
the  bank  is  more  likely,  ultimately,  to  bury  the  govern- 
ment in  its  ruins,  as  it  threatened  to  do  in  1696,  and  again 
in  1797.  With  the  bank  begun  the  funding  system  : 
hand  in  hand  with  the  bank,  dependent  on  it,  and  grow- 
ing out  of  it,  the  funding  system  has  advanced.  Like 
the  Siamese  twins,  they  have  one  common  breath  of  life ; 
separate  them,  and  they  perish.  "  The  practice  of  fund- 
ing," says  Adam  Smith,  "has  gradually  enfeebled  every 
state  which  has  adopted  it."  He  instances  the  Italian 
Republics,  Genoa,  Venice,  Spain,  France,  and  the  Uni- 
ted Provinces,  and  adds,  "  Is  it  Hkely  that  in  Great  Bri- 
tain alone,  a  practice  which  has  brought  either  weakness 
or  desolation  into  every>  other  country,  should  prove  alto- 
gether innocent?"  Since  Smith  wrote  this  (in  1776) 
that  explosion  has  taken  place  in  France,  which  made  all 
nations  quake  with  fear, — an  explosion,  which  would 
never  have  happened,  but  for  the  practice  of  funding  : 
the  British  debt  is  quadrupled  :  is  the  practice  of  funding 
less  likely  now  to  bring  desolation  upon  Great  Britain  ? 

The  United  States  had  one  fair  experiment  of  paper 
money  at  the  outset  of  their  national  existence.  An  eye- 
witness, Mr.  Pelatiah  Webster,  speaks  thus,  first  of  Hi 


404  THE   TRUB    AMERICAN. 

supposed  advantages,  and  afterwards  of  ils  real  evils. 
"  Though  men  of  all  descriptions  stood  trembling  before 
this  monster  of  force,  without  daring  to  lift  a  hand  against 
it,  during  all  this  period,  (from  1776  to  1781,)  yet  its 
unrestrained  energy  always  proved  ineffectual  to  its  pur- 
poses, but  in  every  case  increased  the  evils  it  was  de- 
signed to  remedy,  and  destroyed  the  benefits  it  was  in- 
tended to  promote  :  at  best,  its  utmost  effect  was  like  that 
of  water  sprinkled  on  a  blacksmith's  forge,  which  indeed 
deadens  the  flame  for  a  moment,  but  never  fails  to  in- 
crease the  heat  and  flame  of  the  internal  fire.  Many 
thousand  families  of  full  and  easy  fortune,  were  ruined 
by  these  fatal  measures,  and  lie  in  ruins  to  this  day,  with- 
ont  the  least  benefit  to  the  country,  or  to  the  great  and 
noble  cause  in  which  we  were  then  engaged."  He  enu- 
merates the  sufferings  incident  to  the  war,  the  exorbitant 
price  of  foreign  goods,  the  extreme  scarcity  of  many  ne- 
cessary articles,  such  as  salt,  the  total  cessation  of  many 
trades  for  want  of  materials,  the  seizure  of  goods,  wagons, 
stock,  grain,  cattle,  timber,  and  every  thing  else  which 
was  wanted  for  the  public  service,  the  captures,  ravages, 
and  depredations,  the  burnings  and  plunders  of  the  ene- 
my, which  were  very  terrible  and  expensive.  "  They  had 
possession,  first  or  last,  in  the  course  of  the  war,  of  eleven 
of  the  capitals  of  the  thirteen  states,  pervaded  the  coun- 
try in  every  part,  and  left  dreadful  tracks  of  their  march- 
es behind :  burning  in  cool  blood  a  great  number,  not 
only  of  houses,  barns,  mills,  &c.,  but  also  of  most  capital 
towns  and  villages."  Yet  all  these  evils,  he  testifies,  were 
less  than  those  of  continental  money.  "  We  have  suf- 
fered more  from  this  cause,"  he  says,  "  than  from  every 
other  cause  of  calamity  :  it  has  killed  more  men,  perva- 
ded and  corrupted  the  choicest  interests  of  our  country 
more,  and  done  more  injustice  than  even  the  arms  and 
artifices  of  our  enemies."  "  While  we  rejoice  in  the 
riches  and  strength  of  our  country,  we  have  reason  to  la- 
ment with  tears  of  the  deepest  regret,  the  most  pernicious 
shifts  of  property  which  the  irregularities  of  our  finances 
introduced,  .and  the  many  thousands  of  fortunes  which 
were  ruined  by  it ;  the  generous,  patriotic  spirits  sufftred 
the  injury ;  the  idle  and  avaricious  derived  the  benefit 


THE    CURRENCY.  405 

from  the  confusion."  This  was  written  at  the  very  peri- 
od of  the  dissolution  of  the  continental  currency  system, 
while  the  people  were  yet  smarting  under  its  torments,  the 
remembrance  of  which  had  so  much  power  over  the  fa- 
thers of  our  constitution,  that  they  deliberately  and  stern- 
ly REFUSED  TO  INCORPORATE  IN  THAT  IN- 
STRUMENT, ANY  LICENSE  TO  THE  FEDERAL 
GOVERNMENT  TO  CREATE  ANY  CORPORA- 
TION, LEST  UNDER  SUCH  A  LICENSE  THEY 
MIGHT  CHARTER  A  NATIONAL  BANK. 

It  is  natural  to  imagine  that  government  paper  which 
depreciates  suddenly,  and  then  becomes  worthless,  is  an 
evil  much  more  terrible  than  a  national  bank  with  its 
ever-fluctuating  currency.  Not  so.  A  sword  cut,  or  a 
gun-shot  wound,  however  appalling,  yet  if  it  heals  or 
kills,  is  less  to  be  dreaded,  than  to  be  stretched  daily  on 
the  rack  for  years,  to  perish  in  the  torture  at  last.  Law's 
bank  and  Mississippi  scheme,  the  south  sea  bubble,  as- 
signats,  and  continental  money,  marked  their  course  with 
wide  destruction,  but  they  had  their  end.  The  victims 
who  survived  recovered,  others  filled  the  places  of  the 
fallen,  and  a  new  career  of  prosperity  commenced ;  but 
when  will  England  shake  off  the  incubus  of  her  national 
bank  ?  A  paper  money  explosion,  even  like  the  most 
awful  on  record,  is  far  less  to  be  deprecated  than  the  per- 
petual wrong,  injury,  and  tyranny  of  a  perpetually  fluc- 
tuating paper  currency ;  even  as  the  fire  that  sweeps  the 
prairie,  but  leaves  the  soil  rich  for  a  fresh  vegetation,  is 
less  fatal  than  the  eternal  curse  of  barrenness  on  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah. 

Nothing  can  prevent  a  mixed  currency  partly  of  paper, 
from  becoming  superabundant,  and  consequently  depre- 
ciating. Nothing  can  prevent  such  a  mixed  currency 
from  fluctuating,  and  the  larger  the  proportion  of  paper, 
the  greater  will  be  the  fluctuation. 

A  national  bank,  or  any  other  banks,  issuing  small 
bills  unrestrictedly,  must  sooner  or  later  stop  specie  pay- 
ment :  its  paper  then  becomes  irredeemable  paper,  which 
even  the  whig  oracle  abhors.  This  result  is  not  acci- 
dental, it  is  certain  and  necessary  :  it  is  the  inherent  vice 
of  the  system.  During  the  last  forty  years,  the  Bank  of 


406  TBS    TRIE    AMERICAN. 

England  has  refused  payment  in  specie  twenty-six  years, 
and  the  banks  of  the  United  States  generally  have  viola- 
ted their  obligations  twice. 

I  say  nothing  of  the  government  banks  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  such  as  the  banks  of  Petersburg,  Co- 
penhagen, Vienna,  &/c.,  because  the  friends  of  a  national 
bank  among  us  have  nothing  to  say  for  these.  They  ad- 
mit them  all  to  be  miserable  failures.  Their  only  favorite 
model  is  the  Bank  of  England,  which  has  issued  irre- 
deemable paper  about  half  of  the  time  since  the  United 
States  had  a  banking  system.  "  A  bank  not  to  pay 
specie,"  said  Mr.  Calhoun  in  1816,  "  would  be  an  instru- 
ment of  deception  ;  it  would  have  no  character  or  feature 
of  a  bank.  He  should  regard  it  with  disgust  and  abhor- 
rence." Such  a  bank  is  the  great  bank  in  Pennsylvania. 
Let  banks  issuing  small  bills  set  out  with  what  professions 
they  may,  to  this  complexion  they  must  come  at  last : 
sooner  or  later,  they  will  be  banks  not  to  pay  specie. 

No  art,  wisdom,  or  power  of  man  can  prevent  irre- 
deemable paper  from  depreciation.  The  promise  of 
gold,  however  slightly  doubtful,  is  worth  less  than  gold 
itself;  but  nothing  can  make  a  promise  known  to  be 
false,  equal  to  a  promise  believed  to  be  true.  The  severest 
penal  laws  could  not  prevent  guineas  from  selling  at 
twenty-eight,  and  even  thirty  shillings,  in  bank  notes, 
while  the  Bank  of  England  violated  its  promises.  Con- 
gress passed  an  act  of  outlawry,  (January  11,  1776,)  and 
other  threatening  declarations,  against  those  who  refused 
continental  bills  at  par  :  this  did  not  keep  them  at  par. 
Danton  and  Robespierre  undertook  to  sustain  the  value 
of  the  assignats,  the  revolutionary  money  of  France. 
First,  they  decreed  a  long  imprisonment  to  those  who 
should  take,  pass,  or  offer  assignats  below  their  nominal 
value ;  then  they  fixed  a  price  on  all  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  punished  with  death  those  who,  having  such 
articles  for  sale,  refused  to  sell  them  at  the  legal  price  in 
assignats :  but  the  terrors  of  the  dungeon  and  the  guillo- 
tine proved  insufficient,  though  unsparingly  employed,  to 
give  value  to  a  worthless  paper.  The  fear  of  death, 
then,  cannot  check  the  depreciation  of  irredeemable  paper. 

If  we  sum  up  in  one  grand  total  all  the  wo  to  wbioh 


THE    CURRENCY.  407 

paper  money  banking,  and  the  over-extended  system  of 
credit  growing  out  of  it,  have  given  birth,  we  shall  pro- 
nounce it  to  be  the  most  tremendous  of  the  plagues 
which  the  Almighty  in  his  wrath  has  suffered  to  afflict 
degenerate  men.  Neither  war,  nor  pestilence,  nor  fa- 
mine, ever,  for  so  long  a  time,  spread  desolation  over  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  earth.  What  now  paralizes  the 
energies  of  Great  Britain?  Her  national  debt,  which 
originated  with  the  bank,  grew  with  its  growth  and 
strengthened  with  its  strength,  is  a  part  of  the  same  sys- 
tem, and  without  its  aid  could  never  have  swelled  to  the 
colossal  dimensions  in  which  it  overshadows  the  empire. 
When  the  bank  commenced,  the  debt  was  about  five 
millions  of  dollars.  The  object  of  the  creation  of  the 
bank  was  to  increase  the  debt,  which  it  manages  for  the 
government,  and  which  is  now  about  four  thousand  mil- 
lions of  dollars ;  the  sinews  of  the  poor,  from  generation 
to  generation,  being  mortgaged  to  pay  the  interest.  The 
burdens  and  taxes,  which  I  enumerated  in  speaking  of 
the  banks  of  Massachusetts,  are  but  a  drop  from  that 
fountain  of  bitterness,  the  preposterous  extension  of  a 
fictitious  credit,  which  has  deluged  the  world  with  mise- 
ries. View  the  bank  ami  the  funding  sys^m  together, 
in  their  combined  operation,  and  see  what  the  abuse  of 
credit,  through  fictitious  paper,  has  done  for  mankind. 
What  enabled  Great  Britain  to  carry  on  wars  ruinous  to 
her  own  interests,  destructive  of  her  own  liberties,  and 
fatal  to  the  welfare  of  the  human  race,  for  one  half  the 
period  from  the  accession  of  King  William  to  the  down- 
fall of  Napoleon  ?  Paper  credit ;  whereby  the  ministry 
of  the  day  could  not  only  exhaust  the  resources  of  the 
nation,  but  beggar  posterity,  building  up  that  national 
debt  which  is  the  most  stupendous  phenomenon  of  mod- 
ern times  ;  perhaps,  in  the  world's  whole  history.  Not 
Napoleon  in  his  march  on  Moscow,  with  that  carnival  of 
horrors,  the  retreat,  gave  so  many  corpses  to  the  wolves 
and  vultures,  as  paper  credit.  Neither  Alaric,  nor  Attila, 
nor  any  other  scourge  of  God,  ever  struck  down  so  many 
heads,  or  glutted  his  revenge  with  so  vast  a  havoc,  or 
left  behind  him  such  wide-spread  devastation. 

If  France,  in   1789,  had  had  no  debt,  France  might 


408  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

have  been  free  and  happy,  without  a  bloody  revolution, 
and  the  long  years  of  succeeding  agony.  Who  stimulated 
and  kept  alive  the  wars  that  grew  out  of  the  French 
revolution,  wherein  three  millions  of  human  lives  were 
sacrificed?  England.  How  did  she  sustain  those  wars'* 
By  her  paper  credit.  It  was  paper  credit  that  held  out 
through  twenty-three  years  of  carnage,  and  at  last  con- 
quered at  Waterloo.  It  is  a  stock  corporation,  existing 
by  credit,  and  operating  through  credit,  that  has  "  sold 
every  monarch,  prince,  and  state,  in  India,  broken  every 
contract,  and  ruined  every  prince  and  every  state  who 
had  trusted  them  ;"  that  has  bestrewn  that  whole  empire 
with  the  bones  of  slaughtered  millions,  turning  their  tem- 
ples into  charnel  houses,  and  making  their  Eden  a  Gol- 
gotha. It  was  paper  credit  that  waged  war  eight  years 
upon  the  liberties  and  rising  independence  of  America. 
It  is  paper  credit  that  rivets  the  fetters  of  Ireland,  and 
tightens  the  ligatures  which  check  the  circulation  of  the 
British  empire's  life-blood. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  is  said  to  have  predicted,  at  St. 
Helena,  that  the  next  general  convulsion  of  Europe  would 
be  a  conflagration  of  paper  credit.  When  that  catastrophe 
befalls  the  insolvent  governments  of  the  old  world,  when 
the  national  debt  of  England,  "  incurred  one  half  in 
pulling  down  the  Bourbons,  and  the  other  half  in  setting 
them  up,"  explodes,  and  blows  up  with  it  the  bank,  the 
East  India  Company,  and  the  government,  while  the 
debts  of  the  continent  topple  down  with  the  shock,  will 
not  the  contest  over  the  wreck  be  fiercer  than  the  memo- 
rable reign  of  terror,  in  proportion  as  greater  interests 
are  at  stake,  and  greater  numbers  implicated  1  It  seems 
that  elements  exist  to  form  a  crisis  as  much  more  terrible 
than  the  last,  as  the  battle  of  devils  conceived  by  the 
genius  of  Milton  exceeds  in  sublimity  the  ordinary  con- 
flicts of  men. 

It  is  time  to  return  from  these  speculations  to  our  own 
peculiar  perils.  "  Let  the  Americans,"  said  William 
Pitt,  "  adopt  their  funding  system,  and  go  into  their 
banking  institutions,  and  their  boasted  independence  will 
be  a  mere  phantom." 

Could  William  Pitt  have  foreseen,  that  in  about  sixty 


THE   CURRENCY.  4QJ> 

year's  from  our  independence,  we  should  have  eight  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  banks,  whose  loans  would  exceed 
five  hundred  and  ninety  millions  of  dollars  ?  Could  he 
have  foreseen  that  these  banks  would  issue  their  bills  to 
the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  millions,  and 
then,  in  May,  1837,  stop  payment,  and  continue  to  flood 
the  country  with  irredeemable  paper  ?  Could  he  have 
foreseen  that  a  British  banking  house  (the  Barings)  would 
in  their  circulars  describe,  truly  describe,  the  contest 
between  the  banks  and  their  privileges  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  people  and  their  liberties  on  the  other,  as  a  con- 
test between  the  aristocracy  of  wealth,  and  the  demo- 
cracy of  numbers  ;  and  that  in  this  contest,  an  institution 
modelled  after  the  Bank  of  England,  and  largely  owned 
by  British  stockholders,  would  lead  the  bank  interest ; 
while  the  democracy  of  numbers  would  sustain  the  go- 
vernment and  the  constitution  of  their  country  ?  Could 
he  have  foreseen  that  merchants,  having  a  deep  stake  in 
the  preservation  of  order,  would  threaten  rather  to  rebel, 
than  pay  their  dues  to  the  government,  while  they  could 
find  plenty  of  specie  to  export  in  England ;  and  that  the 
government  would  be  called  on,  in  every  form  of  entreaty 
and  menace,  to  allow  the  whole  basis  of  our  circulation 
to  be  withdrawn  from  us,  and  to  flow  from  the  West  to 
the  Atlantic  cities,  and  thence  across  the  ocean,  leaving 
our  banks,  and  our  people,  to  certain  ruin,  in  order  that 
the  Bank  of  England  might  not  be  compelled  to  suspend 
specie  payments  1  Could  he  have  foreseen  that  for  the 
benefit  of  England  a  new  doctrine  would  be  advanced  in 
America,  that  "  the  truth  is,  the  banks  of  the  United 
States  are  always  the  STRONGEST  when  they  hold  the 
LEAST  SPECIE,  and  the  country  always  the  RICH- 
EST when  it  has  the  LEAST  GOLD  AND  SILVER  ?" 
If  he  foresaw  all  this,  no  wonder  he  anticipated  that 
banks  would  one  day  reduce  our  boasted  independence 
to  a  mere  phantom. 

His  forebodings  will  not,  however,  be  realized.  Our 
government  is  a  popular  government.  With  us,  the  will 
of  the  people  is  sovereign,  and  it  is  not  the  will  of  the 
people  to  barter  their  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage. 
Though  they  believed  all  the  promises  of  advantage  which 
35 


410  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

banks  hold  out,  promises  which  the  history  of  other  na- 
tions, and  the  experience  of  their  own,  have  shown  to  be 
delusive,  yet  liberty  and  independence  are  blessings  too 
dear  to  them  to  be  weighed  in  the  balance  with  wealth. 
What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  The  slaves  of  filthy  lucre,  who 
prize  it  above  liberty,  must  have  sold  themselves,  body 
and  soul,  into  the  service  of  the  god  of  their  idolatry ; 
but  the  American  people  cling  to  their  soul's  freedom. 

To  deliver  us  from  thraldom  to  the  banks,  a  sound 
currency  is  indispensable. 

Let  the  ban  dogs  of  faction  howl ;  fangless  now,  their 
malice  is  impotent.  A  great  people  is  conscious  of  its 
rights  and  power.  Calmly  majestic,  it  gathers  its  strength, 
and  rises  to  overturn,  smite,  and  demolish,  whatever  the 
spirit  of  our  institutions  cannot  tolerate.  Rashness  shall 
not  rule  the  hour,  nor  an  avenging  fury  confound  inno- 
cence with  guilt ;  but  the  inflexible  determination  of  vir- 
tuous wisdom  shall  carry  on  reform,  till  her  warfare  be 
utterly  accomplished.  Then,  when  the  proud  bearing  of 
paper  feudality  is  humbled,  the  hoarse  throat  of  anarchy 
silenced,  and  popular  sovereignty  sways  over  all  the  scep- 
tre of  equal  justice,  then  may  we  exult  in  the  security, 
eternal,  as  far  as  human  foresight  reaches,  of  American 
liberty,  union,  and  independence. 


OPINIONS  OF  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

THE  American  people  may  read  in  the  messages  of  our 
patriot  Presidents,  summaries  of  the  principles  of  freedom, 
such  as  cannot  be  found  in  any  other  series  of  state  pa- 
pers ever  given  to  the  world.  But  so  irresistible  is  the 
impression  which  these  principles  make  upon  the  heart, 
that  one  can  hardly  believe  that  any  citizen  of  our  free 
country  ever  thought  otherwise  than  Jefferson,  Madison, 
Jackson,  and  Van  Buren. 


OPINIONS    OF   A.    HAMILTON.  411 

•When  we  close  the  volume  that  includes  their  precious 
expositions  of  the  democratic  faith,  we  are  almost  ready 
to  say  of  the  whole  contents,  what  the  declaration  of  in- 
dependence says  of  the  fundamental  axioms  on  whic& 
their  system  is  'built,  "  WE  HOLD  THESE  TRUTHS 
TO  BE  SELF-EVIDENT!" 

Yet  the  aristocratic  party  of  the  country  holds,  and 
always  has  held,  opinions  diametrically  the  opposite  of 
the  doctrines  of  equality.  As  we  have  not  room  to 
give  very  numerous  extracts  from  their  writings,  and  as 
the  acknowledged  founder  of  the  whig  school  is  still  the 
apostle  of  the  bank  faction,  we  will  give  a  distinct  view 
of  his  ideas  of  government,  to  be  contrasted  with  those 
of  the  great  apostles  of  democracy. 

Extracts  from  a  speech  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  Jane 
18,  1787,  as  reported  in  Judge  Yates'  minutes  of  the  se- 
cret debates  of  the  convention  which  formed  the  federal 
constitution : — 

"  I  believe  the  British  government  forms  the  best  mo- 
del the  world  ever  produced,  and  such  has  been  its  pro- 
gress in  the  minds  of  many,  that  the  truth  gradually  gains 
ground.  This  government  has  for  its  object  public 
strength  and  individual  security.  It  is  said  with  us  to  be 
unattainable.  If  it  was  once  formed,  it  would  maintain 
itself. 

"  All  communities  divide  themselves  into  the  few  and 
the  many.  The  first  are  the  rich  and  well-born,  the  other 
the  mass  of  the  people.  The  voice  of  the  people  has 
been  said  to  be  the  voice  of  God  ;  and  however  generally 
this  maxim  has  been  quoted  and  believed,  it  is  not  true  in 
fact.  The  people  are  turbulent  and  changing  ;  they  sel- 
dom judge  or  determine  right.  GIVE  THEREFORE 
TO  THE  FIRST  CLASS  A  DISTINCT,  PERMA- 
NENT SHARE  IN  THE  GOVERNMENT 

*  *       "  Nothing  but  a  permanent  body  can 
check   the  imprudence  of  democracy.     Their  turbulent 
and  uncontrolling  disposition  requires  checks. 

*  *       "  It  is  admitted  that  you  cannot  have 
a  good  executive  upon  a  democratic  plan.     See  the  ex- 
cellency of  the  British  executive.     He  is  placed  above 
temptation.     He  can  have  no  distinct  interests  from  the 


412  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

public  welfare.     NOTHING    SHORT  OF  SUCH  AN 
EXECUTIVE  CAN  BE  EFFICIENT. 

*  "  Let  one  body  of  the  legislature  be 
constituted  during  good  behavior  or  life. 

"  Let  one  executive  be  appointed  who  dares  execute 
his  powers. 

*  "  And  let  me  observe,  that  an  execu- 
tive is  less  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  when 
in  office  during  life,  than  for  seven  years." 

Mr.  Hamilton  read  his  plan,  which  may  be  found  in 
Elliott's  Debates,  vol.  i.  p.  12. 

It  contained  the  following  provisions  : 

1.  A  legislature  in  two  chambers,  "  with  powers  to  pass 
all  laws  whatsoever,"  subject  to  the  veto. 

2.  The  house  to  be  chosen  for  three  years. 

8.  The  senate  to  serve  during  good  behavior. 

4.  The  executive  to  serve  during  good  behavior,  and 
to  have  a  negative  on  all  laws  about  to  be  passed,  the  en 
tire  direction  of  war  when  once  begun,  the  appointment 
of  his  cabinet  officers,  and  nomination  to  the  Senate  of 
other  officers,   and  the  pardoning  power.     To  APPOINT 

THE  GOVERNOR  OF  EACH  STATE, and  TO  HAVE  A  VETO 

ON  ALL  THE  LAWS  OF  EACH  STATE. 

No  state  to  have  any  forces  land  or  naval,  and  their 
militia  to  be  under  the  sole  and  exclusive  direction  of  the 
United  States. 

In  closing  his  speech  on  this  plan,  Mr.  Hamilton  re- 
marked^ "  The  people  are  gradually  ripening  in  their  opi- 
nions of  government — they  begin  to  be  tired  of  an  excess 
of  democracy — and  what  even  is  the  Virginia  plan,  but 
pork  still,  with  a  little  change  of  the  sauce." 

Mr.  Madison,  in  his  report  of  this  speech  in  the  De- 
bates in  the  Convention,  vol.  ii.,  p.  885,  attributes  to  Mr. 
Hamilton  the  same  ideas.  The  following  are  extracts 
from  Mr.  Madison's  account. 

"  Mr.  Hamilton  said,  '  In  his  private  opinion,  he  had  no 
scruple  in  declaring,  supported  as  he  was  by  the  opinion 
of  so  many  of  the  wise  and  good,  that  THE  BRITISH  GO- 
VERNMENT WAS  THE  BEST  IN  THE  WORLD,  and  that  he  doubt- 
ed whether  any  thing  short  of  it  would  do  in  America.' 

"  Give  all  power  to  the  many,  they  will  oppress  the 


OPINIONS   OP  A.   HAMILTON.  413 

few.  Give  all  power  to  the  few,  they  will  oppress  the 
many.  Both,  therefore,  ought  to  have  the  power,  that 
each  may  defend  itself  against  the  other.  To  the  proper 
adjustment  [of  this  check]  the  British  owe  the  excellence 
of  their  constitution.  THEIR  HOUSE  OF  LORDS 
IS  A  MOST  NOBLE  INSTITUTION." 

"  As  to  the  executive,  it  seemed  to  be  admitted  that  no 
good  one  could  be  established  on  republican  principles. 
Was  not  this  giving  up  the  merits  of  the  question ;  for 
can  there  be  a  good  government  without  a  good  execu- 
tive ?  THE  ENGLISH  MODEL  WAS  THE  ONLY 
GOOD  ONE  ON  THIS  SUBJECT."  * 

"  Let  one  branch  of  the  legislature  hold  their  places 
for  life,  or  at  least  during  good  behavior.  Let  the  exe- 
cutive also  be  for  life." 

In  August,  1840,  the  second  volume  of  the  life  of  Ha- 
milton was  published  by  his  son,  John  C.  Hamilton.  In 
this  volume,  page  481,  we  find  "  the  brief,  as  it  exists 
among  his  manuscripts,"  of  this  celebrated  speech. 

Here  then  are  some  of  the  heads  as  they  stand  in  Ha-. 
milton's  awn  hand- writing  : 

"  BRITISH  CONSTITUTION,  BEST  FORM. 

*  #  *  *  « 

'  Representation  alone  will  not  do. 

'  Demagogues  will  generally  prevail. 

'  And  if  separated  they  will  need  a  mutual  check 

'THIS  CHECK  IS  A  MONARCH. 

'  Each  principle  ought  to  exist  in  full  force,  or  it  will 
not  answer  its  end. 

"  The  democracy  must  be  derived  immediately  from  the 
people. 

"  The  aristocracy  ought  to  be  entirely  separated ;  their 
power  should  be  permanent,  and  they  should  have  the 

caritas  liberorum. 

*  *  »         *  * 

"  The  monarch  must  have  proportional  strength.  HE 
OUGHT  TO  BE  HEREDITARY,  and  to  have  so  much 
power,  that  it  will  not  be  his  interest  to  risk  much  to  act- 
quire  more.  * 

"  It  is  said  a  republican  government  does  not  admit  a 
vigorous  execution. 
35* 


414  THE    TRUE    AMERICA!*. 

"  IT  IS  THEREFORE  BAD ;  for  the  goodness  of  & 
government  consists  in  a  vigorous  execution. 

"  The  principle  chiefly  intended  to  be  established,  is 

this that  THERE  MUST  BE  A  PERMANENT  WILL." 

A  whig  is  an  admirer  and  defender  of  the  British  con- 
stitution, as  settled  in  1688.  The  above  extracts  prove 
that  Alexander  Hamilton  was  a  genuine  whig.  He  held 
in  its  purest  form  the  doctrine  vindicated  by  Daniel  Web- 
ster in  the  Massachusetts  convention  of  1820,  when  he 
said,  "It  would  seem  then  to  be  the  part  of  political  wis- 
dom TO  FOUND  GOVERNMENT  ON  PROPERTY  I" 

"  Hamilton,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  was  not  only  a  mo- 
narchist, but  for  a  monarchy  bottomed  on  corruption." 
This  is  the  British  whig  system,  as  acted  on  by  Walpole, 
and  in  this  country  also  illustrated  by  the  operations  of  the 
bank  in  its  loans  to  members  of  Congress,  editors,  &c., 
and  in  its  immense  fees  to  Clay,  Binney,  Webster,  and 
others. 


THE   PERFECTION    OF  GOVERNMENT. 

BY    COV.    MORTON,    OP    MASSACHUSETTS. 

FREE  government,  to  be  permanent  and  secure,  must 
be  founded  on  equality — equality  of  rights  and  duties — 
equal  rights  of  acquisition  and  enjoyment — duties  equal 
in  obligation,  though  not  in  degree.  The  powers,  mental 
and  physical,  with  which  we  are  endowed,  are  unequal 
and  various,  but  admirably  suited  in  their  proper  applica- 
tion to  the  multifarious  wants  and  comforts  of  human 
life,  and  all  wisely  and  wonderfully  adapted  to  the  promo- 
tion of  the  greatest  happiness  of  the  whole.  He  who 
faithfully  performs  the  part  assigned  to  him,  will  fulfil  the 
end  of  his  creation,  and  be  entitled  to  his  appropriate  re- 
ward. He  who  profitably  employs  the  ten  talents  intrust- 
ed to  him,  will  no  more  perfectly  perform  his  duty,  than 
he  who  does  the  same  with  his  one  talent.  But  the 
benefits  of  their  respective  labors,  and  the  fruits  and 


THE    PERFECTION    OF    GOVERNMENT.  415 

rewards  thereof,  will  be  widely  different.  Each  one 
should  be  secured  in  the  productions  of  his  own  industry, 
and  the  remuneration  of  each  should  be  in  exact  propor- 
tion to  the  utility  of  his  services.  Let  not  those  more 
blessed,  neglect  to  employ  their  own  talents,  nor  seek  to 
filch  from  the  less  favored  ones  the  pittance  of  their 
earnings. 

A  munificent  Providence  has  made  ample  provision  for 
the  whole  human  family.  But  the  unequal  and  unjust 
distribution  of  his  bounties  by  his  children  "  makes 
countless  thousands  mourn."  Great  inequalities  of  con- 
dition— the  extremes  of  poverty  and  wealth — are  alike 
unfavorable  to  free  institutions,  and  to  the  virtue,  intelli- 
gence, and  happiness  of  the  people.  In  those  communi- 
ties where  the  greatest  degree  of  equality  prevails  among 
their  members,  there  also  will  ever  be  found  the  highest 
degree  of  intelligence,  virtue,  and  felicity.  It  should, 
therefore,  ever  be  the  leading  object  in  the  institution 
of  government  to  promote  so  desirable  a  state.  With 
the  different  capacities  of  men  perfect  equality  is  unat- 
tainable. But  how  shall  the  nearest  approximation  be 
made  ?  Not  by  diminishing  the  stimulants  to  industry, 
for  this  is  the  ordinance  of  God ;  not  by  weakening  the 
rights  of  property,  for  they  should  be  deemed  sacred,  nor 
by  restraining  its  disposition  or  descent,  for  this  is  alike 
beneficial  to  parents  and  children ;  but  by  holding  out  to 
all  the  highest  motives  to  industry  and  frugality,  and  by 
insuring  to  labor,  mental  and  physical,  a  reward  exactly 
proportionate  to  its  utility.  Let  every  one  have  undoubt- 
ing  assurance  that  he  will  receive  a  share  in  the  common 
stock,  in  the  exact  ratio  of  his  contributions  to  it,  and 
this  will  furnish  the  highest  encouragement  which  human 
power  can  offer,  to  promote  the  intelligence,  virtue,  and 
happiness  of  the  whole. 

Such  is  the  high  aim  of  democracy.  If,  like  all  hu- 
man institutions,  it  is  imperfect,  and  fails  of  the  accom- 
plishment of  its  whole  object,  it  is  a  reason  for  increased 
efforts  on  the  part  of  its  friends  to,  improve  it,  rather  than 
of  discouragement  at  its  short  comings. 

If  any  government  can  be  said  to  be  I  y  divine  author- 
ity, it  is  the  government  of  the  people.  And  if  covered 


416  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

by  its  broad  panoply  of  equal  protection,  we  find  bad  as 
well  as  good,  infidels  as  well  as  Christians,  it  proves  the 
e-xpansiveness  and  universality  of  its  beneficent  power. 
The  rain  falls  on  the  unjust  as  well  as  the  just.  Be- 
cause it  guarantees  the  freedom  of  thought  and  of  belief, 
and,  in  all,  the  advocacy  of  their  own  opinions,  and  thus 
commands  the  approbation  of  those  who,  from  the  few- 
ness of  their  numbers,  or  the  odium  of  their  tenets,  need 
its  protecting  influence,  let  it  not  be  said  to  favor  their 
views.  Because  it  secures  to  the  infidel  the  enjoyment 
of  his  opinions,  let  it  not  be  supposed  to  favor  infidelity. 
Nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Its  principles 
are  founded  in  Christianity  itself,  and  find  their  highest 
sanction  in  the  Gospel.  And  whenever  the  time  shall 
arrive  that  every  man  shall  govern  his  conduct  by  the 
fundamental  rules  of  Christianity — "  thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself" — "  and  whatsoever  you  would  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  even  so  do  ye  to  them,"  there  will 
exist  a  state  of  perfect  democracy ;  and  if  any  human 
government  be  needed  on  earth,  it  will  be  a  perfect  de- 
mocratic government. 


DEMOCRACY   AND   REFORM. 

[EXTRACT.] 

WE  address  ourselves  to  reformers,  to  men  who  profess 
to  believe  in  progress,  and  to  be  desirous  of  laboring  in 
the  holy  cause  of  social  melioration.  Can  they  hesitate 
which  party  to  join,  when  the  alternative  is  to  join  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  existing  parties  ?  We  have  no  dis- 
position to  speak  disparagingly  of  the  whig  party.  In 
that  party  are  many  men  whom  we  are  proud  to  reckon 
among  our  personal  friends.  We  freely  acknowledge 
that  it  embodies  much  talent,  and  not  a  little  private  worth. 
But  every  party,  if  it  be  worth  considering,  has  a  set  of 
principles  which  it  must  develop,  and  which  it  is  com- 


DEMOCRACY    AND    REFORM.  41T 

pdled  by  the  laws  of  Providence  to  push  to  their  last 
consequences.  These  principles  are  stronger  than  indi- 
viduals. They  carry  away  individuals  in  spite  of  them- 
selves. There  is-  an  invincible  logic  which  conquers  the 
stubbornest  will.  He  who  refuses  to  go  where  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  party  lead,  is  inevitably  left  by  the  way,  and 
he  who  steps  before  his  party  to  arrest  its  onward  career, 
is  swept  away  by  a  resistless  current,  or  trampled  in  the 
dust  by  a  thousand  feet.  To  judge  of  a  party,  you  need 
not  inquire  what  are  the  private  virtues  of  the  individuals 
which  compose  it,  but  what  are  the  principles  on  which 
it  is  founded,  the  idea  around  which  it  rallies,  and  which 
it  is  its  mission  to  realize.  This  idea  nakedly  presented, 
may  be  repudiated  by  a  large  portion  of  the  party;  few 
of  the  party  may  comprehend  it,  or  will  its  realization  ; 
nevertheless,  they  must  all  obey  it,  and  nearly  all  will  ul- 
timately adopt  its  last  consequences. 

The  capital  invested  in  the  soil  has,  with  us,  not  even 
its  legitimate  share  of  influence.  The  commercial  capi- 
tal, the  capital  employed  in  business  operations,  is  the 
preponderating  power.  To  give  it  additional  weight  ia 
therefore  to  war  against  the  true  interests  of  humanity. 

The  party  which  labors  to  do  this  is  not,  and  cannot 
be  in  this  country,  the  party  of  progress.  But  the  leading 
idea  of  the  whig  party  is  the  preponderance  of  commer- 
cial capital.  As  the  old  English  whigs  supported  the 
Bank  of  England,  so  they  support  the  Bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted States ;  as  the  old  English  whigs  supported  the  mer- 
chants, corporations,  funding  systems,  so  our  American 
whigs  support  the  same.  The  American  whigs  possess 
the  larger  portion  of  the  commercial  capital  of  the  coun- 
try, and  they  contend,  that  therefore  they  ought  to  con- 
trol the  government  of  the  country.  They  ask  with  the 
celebrated  Addison,  in  his  "  Whig-Examiner,"  "  Is  there 
any  thing  more  reasonable  than  that  they  who  have  all  the 
riches  of  the  nation  in  their  possession,  or  that  they  who 
have  already  engrossed  all  our  riches,  should  have  the 
management  of  our  public  treasure,  and  the  direction  of 
our  fleets  and  armies  ?"  This  question  might  be  very 
proper  if  our  work  were  to  put  down  an  aristocracy 
founded  on  birth  and  the  sword,  like  the  old  feudal  aris- 


418  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tocracy  ;  but  it  indicates  the  worst  possible  system  here, 
where  our  work  is  to  raise  up  man,  and  give  him  the  pre» 
eminence  over  money. 

The  whig  party  also  is  a  foreign  party,  and  anti- Ame- 
rican in  its  principles.  Its  policy  and  movements  are 
necessarily  controlled,  not  by  a  regard  to  true  American 
interests,  but  by  a  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  "credit 
system,"  which  the  party  is  wedded  to,  of  which  the 
Bank  of  England  is  the  common  centre,  and  whose 
ramifications  extend  to  all  parts  of  the  globe.  By  com- 
merce and  manufactures,  by  their  various  business  ope- 
rations which  are  carried  on  mainly  by  means  of  credits, 
they  are  intimately  connected  with  this  system,  and  vir- 
tually enslaved  by  it.  We  should  be  asking  more  than 
our  knowledge  of  the  weakness  of  human  nature  war- 
rants, were  we  to  ask  them  in  case  of  collision  between 
this  "  credit  system"  and  their  country,  to  be  faithful  to 
the  latter.  Where  a  man's  treasure  is,  there  will  be  his 
heart  also.  Their  treasure  is  in  the  "  credit  system,"  the 
principal  seat  of  which  is  not  in  this  country  ;  conse- 
quently their  hearts  are  abroad  rather  than  at  home.  So 
long  as  the  "  credit  system"  is  controlled  by  foreign  na- 
tions, or  in  other  words,  so  long  as  our  country  is  not 
the  first  commercial  nation  of  the  world,  support  of  the 
system  must  be  incompatible  with  patriotism.  England 
is  at  present  the  ruling  commercial  nation ;  she  controls 
the  "  credit  system"  so  far  as  it  can  be  controlled,  and 
consequently  controls  all  who  are  dependent  on  it.  In 
case  of  collision  between  this  country  and  Great  Britain 
during  the  existence  of  the  "  credit  system,"  we  must 
always  look  to  see  all  true  whigs  sustaining  Great  Britain 
as  its  grand  supporter,  although  her  cannon  should  be 
battering  down  the  walls  of  our  capitol,  resolving  that  it 
is  unbecoming  a  moral  and  religious  people  to  rejoice  at 
American  victories  over  her  armies,  and  singing  Te 
Deums  whenever  her  mercenaries  succeed  in  suppressing 
the  democratic  movements  of  the  Old  World.  We  must 
expect  them  to  do  this,  for  the  system  they  have  espoused 
will  compel  them  to  do  it ;  and  they  will  do  it  spontane- 
ously, religiously,  with  the  feeling  that  in  so  doing  they 
are  honoring  God  and  serving  man.  Whiggisrn  with  us 


DEMOCRACY    AND    REFORM.  419 

is,  therefore,  incompatible  with  patriotism.  The  whig 
Tirtually  expatriates  himself,  or  rather  forswearing  the 
land  of  his  birth,  adopts  the  "  credit  system"  as  his  coun- 
try, makes  it  his  home,  in  it  erects  his  altar  and  places 
his  household  gods.  When  that  system  coincides  with 
American  principles,  he  is  an  American ;  when  they  do 
not,  he  is  an  Englishman,  a  Frenchman,  a  Chinaman,  or 
one  of  that  nation  with  whose  interests  for  the  time  being 
they  chance  to  be  co-incident. 

Mr.  Biddle,  who  is  not  altogether  destitute  of  patri- 
otic feelings,  had,  we  apprehend,  a  glimpse  of  this  fact, 
and  hence  his  efforts  to  transfer  the  seat  of  the  credit  sys- 
tem from  London  to  Philadelphia.  He  probably  dreamed 
of  making  the  American  merchants,  through  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  all  that  English  merchants  now  are 
through  the  Bank  of  England.  This  was  a  lofty  ambi- 
tion, only  a  single  remove  from  the  sublime.  All  that 
was  wanting  for  its  complete  success  was,  that  this  coun- 
try should  stand  first  in  the  scale  of  commercial  nations, 
a  rank  it  unfortunately  does  not  hold,  and  will  not,  for 
some  considerable  time  to  come.  So  long  as  this  country 
is  only  a  second  or  third  rate  commercial  nation,  it  cannot 
be  the  principal  seat  of  the  "credit  system;"  so  long  as  it 
retains  its  present  position  in  relation  to  Great  Britain,  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States  can  only  be  a  branch  of  the 
Bank  of  England.  The  Bank  of  England,  as  the  great 
centre  of  the  credit  system  of  the  world,  can,  at  any  mo- 
ment it  chooses,  win  the  credit  of  American  merchants, 
and  crush  our  whole  banking  system,  as  past  experience 
fully  demonstrates.  By  the  intricate  connection  which 
has  heretofore  existed  between  the  fiscal  concerns  of  our 
government  and  the  general  business  of  banking,  we  have, 
government,  and  all,  been  virtually  under  the  control  of 
Great  Britain.  Hence,  the  reason  why,  whenever  we  have 
demanded  justice  of  Great  Britain,  we  have  uniformly 
armed  our  business  men  against  our  own  government. 
The  war,  which  we  have  been  carrying  on  against  the 
banking  system  for  the  last  ten  years,  has  been  really  a 
war  for  national  independence,  and  Gen.  Jackson,  in  wai- 
ring  against  the  bank,  was  fighting  in  the  same  cause  in 
which  he  fought  at  New  Orleans,  and  against  the  same 


420  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

enemy.  It  was  therefore  that  the  people,  by  an  unerring 
instinct,  selected  him,  the  hero  of  New  Orleans,  to  be 
their  chief  in  the  new  campaigns,  of  which  they  had  a 
forefeeling. 

The  democratic  party  is  the  patriotic  party;  it  is  the 
party  jealous  of  national  honor.  The  whig  party,  com- 
posed in  the  main  of  business  men,  whose  idea  is  proper- 
ty, not  man,  are  insensible  to  national  honor,  when  its 
maintenance  requires  the  sacrifice  of  the  facilities  of  trade 
or  commerce.  In  their  estimation,  the  national  honor  is 
well  enough,  when  -they  are  making  large  profits,  and  ia 
endangered  only  wten  their  chances  of  gain  Beem  to  be 
diminished.  Hence  it  is,  that  every  measure  taken  to 
maintain  the  honor  of  the  nation,  or  to  enhance  its  real 
prosperity,  has  been  taken  by  the  democratic  party  amidst 
the  most  violent,  and  all  but  treasonable  hostility  of  the 
whigs.  The  democracy  purchased  Louisiana,  and  thus 
secured  to  trade  the  Mississippi,  to  agriculture  an  immense 
territory  of  unrivalled  fertility,  and  to  free  institutions 
many  millions  of  supporters.  The  democracy  declared 
and  sustained  the  war  against  Great  Britain,  in  which  we 
vindicated  our  national  honor,  and  asserted  the  freedom 
of  the  seas.  And  during  its  continuance,  the  whig  party 
were  plotting  treason  with  the  enemy,  refusing  all  support 
to  the  government  of  their  country,  and  cutting  off,  as  far 
as  they  could,  its  supplies. 

The  democratic  party  is  the  party  of  liberty.  This  is 
involved  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  American  party.  The 
idea  of  this  country  is,  we  have  said,  the  supremacy  of 
man.  This  supremacy  is  attained  only  by  the  broadest 
freedom.  The  American  idea,  under  another  aspect,  then, 
is  that  of  liberty.  The  truly  American  party  always  ral- 
lies around  the  quickening  idea  of  liberty.  No  man  can 
have  the  hardihood  to  pretend  that  liberty  is  the  idea  the 
whigs  are  struggling  to  bring  out. 

The  democratic  party  has  always  been  faithful  to  free- 
dom of  mind  and  conscience,  the  basis  of  all  freedom, 
It  has  always  opposed  every  thing  even  approaching  a 
religious  establishment,  and  contended  that  man's  inter- 
course with  his  Maker  should  be  free  and  voluntary.  It 
has  opposed  all  test  laws,  and  uniformly  frowned  upon 


DEMOCRACY    AND    REFORM.  421 

every  effort  to  molest  a  man  for  his  opinions.  It  inserted 
in  the  federal .  constitution  the  amendments  which  for- 
bid Congress  to  establish  a  religion,  or  to  pass  any  law 
prohibiting  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press.  It  op- 
posed the  elder  Adams  and  his  party,  because  in  their 
alien  and  sedition  laws  they  proved  themselves  the  ene- 
mies of  free  thought  and  free  utterance ;  and  raised 
Thomas  Jefferson  to  the  presidential  chair,  because  he 
was  the  unflinching  friend  of  freedom  of  mind.  It  has 
always  said  with  Milton,  "  Let  truth  and  falsehood  grap- 
ple. Who  ever  knew  truth  put  to  the  worse  in  free  and 
open  encounter?"  Her  confuting  is  the  best  and  surest 
suppressing. 

The  democratic  party  is  the  Christian  party.  Chris- 
tianity is  a  revelation  of  God's  mercy  to  man.  It  is  al- 
ways on  the  side  of  freedom  and  humanity.  It  addresses 
man  as  endowed  with  the  capacity  to  judge  of  himself 
what  is  or  is  not  right.  Democracy  is  based  on  the  fact, 
that  man  does  really  possess  this  capacity.  Christianity, 
by  addressing  itself  to  all  men,  necessarily  recognizes 
this  capacity  in  every  man ;  democracy,  by  defending 
universal  suffrage,  does  the  same.  Christianity  values 
man  for  his  simple  humanity,  not  for  his  trappings,  the 
accidents  of  birth,  wealth,  or  position ;  so  does  demo- 
cracy. Christianity,  aside  from  its  design  to  fit  the  in- 
dividual for  communion  with  the  blest  after  death,  seeks 
to  introduce  a  new  order  of  things  on  the  earth,  to  exalt 
the  humble,  abash  the  proud,  to  establish  the  reign  of 
justice,  and  enable  every  man  to  sit  under  his  own  vine 
and  fig-tree,  with  none  to  molest  or  make  afraid. 

The  democratic  party  is  the  party  of  progress.  This 
is  involved  in  what  has  already  been  said.  A  party  ga- 
thers round  an  idea  or  principle,  which  is  its  life,  its  soul. 
That  idea  it  can  never  abandon,  and  live ;  nor  can  it 
ever  receive  a  new  idea,  without  losing  its  identity.  If 
left  to  itself,  it  will  unfold,  exhaust  its  idea ;  and  having 
done  this,  it  dies.  Thus,  English  whiggism,  having  ex- 
hausted its  original  idea,  having  found  its  euthanasia,  in 
the  "  Reform  Bill,"  has  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth, 
and  is  suffered  to  lie  in  state  still,  merely  because  neither 
tories  nor  radicals  are  prepared  to  assume  the  responsi- 
36 


432  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

bility  of  heirs,  and  give  it  burial.  The  whigs  in  this 
country  are  demonstrating  the  same  law.  The  idea 
around  which  they  gather,  is  offensive  to  a  majority  of 
the  American  people.  This  the  more  discerning  of  our 
whig  friends  perceive,  and,  therefore,  they  would  fain 
change  the  doctrines  of  the  party.  They  have  even  tried 
to  make  it  pass  for  the  democratic  party.  Vain  efforts  ! 
They  may  change  its  name,  receive  into  its  ranks  many 
who  once  thought  themselves  republicans,  and  submit  to 
be  led  on  by  men,  who  once  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
the  democracy ;  but  nothing  can  change  its  character ; 
its  identity  remains ;  and  your  Lincoln's,  Selden's, 
Duane's,  Verplank's,  Talmadges,  and  Rives's,  who  gene- 
rously undertake  to  give  it  a  democratic  aspect,  can  change 
nothing  in  its  principles  or  direction,  but  are  themselves 
swept  away  by  its  resistless  current.  The  mission  of  the 
democratic  party  is  to  unfold  the  great  idea  of  justice, 
and  reduce  it  to  practice  in  all  man's  social  and  political 
relations.  It  stands,  therefore,  not  as  the  representative 
of  a  fraction  of  the  race,  but  of  the  race  itself,  and, 
therefore,  like  the  race,  it  is  immortal.  This  great  idea 
of  justice  the  party  is  destined  to  realize.  From  this 
work  it  cannot  withdraw  itself,  if  it  would.  Its  leaders 
may  be  false  to  it,  and  seek  to  betray  it ;  but  it  leaves 
them  by  the  way,  and  with  or  without  new  leaders,  con- 
tinues its  march.  No  matter  how  high  a  rank  a  man 
may  have  held  in  its  estimation,  the  moment  he  proves 
false  to  the  mission  of  the  party,  he  is  left,  though  leaving 
him  be  like  plucking  out  a  right  eye,  or  cutting  off  a  right 
hand.  Nothing  from  within  can  betray  it,  or  divert  it 
from  its  onward  course.  Many  of  the  most  active  mem- 
bers of  the  whig  party  were  once  in  its  ranks,  but  it  has 
not  missed  them.  It  is  never  in  want  of  a  man  compe- 
tent to  lead  on  its  forces,  nor  of  an  "  available"  candidate 
for  its  suffrages.  A  panic  may  now  and  then  occur,  and 
produce  a  momentary  confusion,  but  it  instantly  recovers 
itself,  re-establishes  order,  and  takes  up  its  line  of  march, 
ready  to  grapple  with  any  force  it  may  meet. 

Now  as  the  party,  according  to  the  general  laws  of  par- 
ty, must  go  on  unfolding  its  idea,  and  as  that  idea  is  uni- 
versal and  all-comprehensive,  we  say  truly,  that  it  is  the 


,  .--          ...  . 

DEMOCRACY    AND    REFORM. 

party  of  progress.  Justice  is  its  idea,  and  this  idea  it 
must  unfold,  and  this  idea  in  its  unfolding  must  reach  all 
the  reforms  the  friends  of  progress  can  desire.  Progress 
is  simply  the  better  and  fuller  application  of  justice  to  our 
social  and  political  relations.  All  the  progress  which  in 
the  very  nature  of  things  now  can  be,  must  come  from 
the  unfolding  of  the  idea  which  constitutes  the  life  and 
soul  of  the  democratic  party.  Then  as  friends  of  pro- 
gress you  should  support  that  party,  and  contribute  what 
you  can  to  help  it  onward  in  the  development  and  appli- 
cation of  its  general  principles. 

Are  you  contending  for  universal  education  ?  What 
principle  will  establish  a  true  system  of  universal  educa- 
tion, but  that  which  declares  the  supremacy  of  man  over 
money,  and  recognizes  man  in  all  his  integrity  in  every 
individual  man?  Are  you  the  advocate  of  the  rights  of 
woman  ?  How  will  you  succeed  but  by  appealing  to  the 
great  principle  of  democracy,  that  right  is  paramount  to 
might  1  Are  you  a  non-resistant,  a  peace  man  ?  What 
means  have  you  to  compass  your  ends,  but  by  aiding  the 
democracy  to  introduce  the  rule  of  justice  into  all  public 
affairs?  Are  you  an  advocate  of  the  working-man,  anx- 
ious to  secure  to  honest  industry  its  due  reward,  and  to 
the  laborer  his  true  social  position  ?  You  must  do  it  by 
means  of  that  party  which  struggles  to  raise  up  universal 
humanity,  to  abolish  all  privilege,  and  to  place  the  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  MAN,  instead  of  MONEY.  Are  you 
an  abolitionist,  and  would  you  free  the  slave  ?  What 
party  puts  forth  general  principles  which  in  their  gradual 
unfolding  must  break  every  unjust  bond,  and  set  every 
captive  free  ?  The  day  of  emancipation  is  not  yet.  It 
were  useless  to  emancipate  the  slave  to-day,  because  we 
should  be  merely  changing  the  form,  not  the  substance, 
of  his  slavery.  But  the  democratic  party  puts  forth  prin- 
ciples, which  must,  in  the  end,  abolish  slavery,  and  do  it 
too  at  the  very  day,  the  very  hour,  when  it  can  be  done 
with  advantage  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  justice.  Sla- 
very is  doomed ;  man  will  not  always  tyrannize  over  man. 
There  are  causes  at  work  which  will  free  the  slave,  and 
free  him  too,  with  the  consent  and  joy  of  his  master.  Let 
these  causes  work  on,  and  do  not  murmur  because  their 


434  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

full  effects  are  not  realised  to-day.  God  doubtless  could 
have  made  the  world  in  one  day,  but  \ve  are  told  that  he 
chose  to  employ  six  days  in  creating  it.  The  seed  is  not 
sown,  and  the  corn  harvested  the  same  day.  Be  sure  that 
you  have  principles  in  operation  that  will  effect  your  work, 
and  you  may  retain  your  composure.  The  democratic 
party  embraces  the  idea  of  universal  freedom  to  universal 
man,  and  it  will  realise  this  idea,  just  as  fast  as  we  can 
urge  onward  the  general  progress  of  humanity,  and  no 
faster. 

We  have  now  given  some  of  the  reasons  why  reform- 
ers should  sustain  the  democratic  party.  That  party  em- 
braces the  general  principles  of  liberty,  of  progress, 
which  include  within  them,  as  the  oak  is  included  in  the 
acorn,  all  possible  reforms.  It  represents  to-day  in  this 
western  world,  entire  humanity,  and  as  such  has  a  right 
to  demand  the  hearty  co-operation  of  every  true  friend 
of  his  race. 


PROSPECTS    OF    THE   DEMOCRACY. 

THE  whig  party,  which  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
regarding  as  the  legitimate  heir  of  the  old  federal  party, 
modified  merely  to  meet  the  new  questions  which  have 
come  up,  has  not  been  willing  to  rest  its  claims  on  the 
fact  of  its  being  the  continuation  of  that  party,  but  it 
has  called  itself  democratic,  and  challenged  success  on 
the  ground  of  being  more  democratic  than  the  democratic 
party  itself.  Why  has  it  done  this,  if  not  from  the  con- 
viction that  democracy  is  the  dominant  faith  of  the  coun- 
try, and  that  all  open  and  avowed  opposition  to  it  must 
be  unavailing  ?  In  doing  this,  has  it  not  said  that  its 
success  must  be  proportionate  to  the  belief  it  can  produce 
that  it  is  the  real  democratic  party  ?  that  to  conquer,  it 
must  steal  the  democratic  thunder,  and  swear  that  it  is 
whig  property  1  It  is  a  proof  that  the  American  people 
are  soond  at  the  core,  and  that  nothing  is  necessary  to 


PROSPECTS    OP    THE    DEMOCRACY.  425 

carry  any  measure  but  to  make  it  be  seen  to  be  a  truly 
democratic  measure. 

The  true  democratic  party  always  relies  with  a  firm 
faith  on  principle.  It  is  conscious  of  its  own  rectitude, 
that  its  cause  is  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice ;  and  it 
knows  the  people  are  with  it ;  that  the  prayers  of  all 
good  men,  the  world  over,  are  for  it ;  and  that  Heaven 
with  all  its  omnipotence,  stands  pledged  to  give  it  suc- 
cess. In  prosperity  it  is  not  elated  ;  in  adversity  it  does 
not  despond ;  but  ever  keeps  on  the  even  tenor  of  its 
way,  with  a  serene  brow  and  a  tranquil  pulse.  It  con- 
fides too  firmly  in  the  power  of  truth  and  justice  to  ever 
resort  to  artifice  for  its  success.  Calmly,  but  distinctly, 
it  proclaims  its  great  doctrines,  which  are  always  the  in- 
tuitions of  the  Universal  Reason,  and  doubts  not  that  in 
due  time  those  doctrines  will  embody  themselves  in  insti- 
tutions, and  diffuse  their  fragrance  over  the  whole  earth. 

This  true  democratic  party,  as  it  presents  itself  to  us, 
is  the  true  Movement  Party  of  the  country,  forming  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  grand  army  of  progress,  now  dis- 
playing its  plumes  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and 
promising  not  to  lay  down  its  arms  till  man  every  where 
is  free.  It  is  the  party  of  Liberty,  of  Humanity,  and  as 
such  must  commend  itself  to  every  friend  of  his  race.  If 
it  fulfil  its  present  promises,  it  will  realize  a  truly  demo- 
cratic society ;  enlist  religion,  art,  science,  literature, 
philosophy  on  its  side,  and  prove  to  the  world  that  man 
can  be  really  great  and  good  only  where  the  people  are 
sovereign. 

In  the  states  themselves,  the  party  must  be  really  and 
truly  democratic.  It  must  go  for  the  whole  people ; 
against  all  monopolies ;  against  all  exclusive  privileges ; 
against  all  aristocratic  measures,  and  in  favor  of  equal 
rights  ;  in  favor  of  education,  literature,  art,  and  philoso- 
phy. It  must  plant  itself  on  the  primitive  fact  that  all  men 
are  born  essentially  equal,  and  that  there  is  something 
divine  in  every  man.  It  must  be  ever  on  the  side  of 
freedom,  sympathize  with  the  oppressed,  with  all  who  are 
struggling  for  their  rights.  It  must  be  high  toned  and 
moral  ;  confiding  in  the  people,  and  still  more  in  the  im- 
mortal vigor  of  truth  and  justice.  Then  its  triumph  is 
37 


496  THE    TUCE    AMERICAN. 

certain,  and  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  country — lo  the 
world.  Its  success  rests  on  the  fact,  that  it  rallies  around 
a  principle  which  is  planted  deep  in  the  human  heart, 
and  in  the  triumph  of  which  entire  Humanity  is  interest- 
ed. The  masses  are  moved  only  by  great  and  everlasting 
principles,  which  touch  every  individual  of  the  race. 

Parties,  merely  as  parties,  are  nothing  to  the  masses  ; 
individuals,  as  simple  individuals,  are  nothing  to  them. 
Show  them  that  this  or  that  man  embodies  in  himself  the 
cause  of  the  millions,  that  in  raising  him  to  office  the 
cause  of  the  millions  is  secured,  and  then  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  cause  does  he  become  of  importance. 
No  matter  how  great  or  how  worthy  a  man  is  viewed, 
simply  as  an  individual,  the  masses  will  not  sustain  him, 
and  ought  not  to  sustain  him,  unless  he  represents  their 
cause. 

The  contest  for  men  is  insignificant.  Individuals  are 
nothing, — causes  are  every  thing  ;  and  the  man  who  would 
stand  at  the  head  of  his  country,  must  be  the  impersona- 
tion of  his  country's  cause.  Parties,  as  such,  again,  are 
nothing, — causes  every  thing.  Let  the  standard  of  the 
masses  be  raised,  the  banner  of  Equality  be  unfurled,  and 
distinctly  seen  to  wave  over  the  camp  of  the  party,  and 
the  masses  shall  rally  around  that  standard,  joyously  enrol 
themselves  under  that  banner.  Let  there  then  be  no 
thought  about  men,  but  let  the  whole  energy  of  the  soul 
be  given  to  causes.  Seize  the  right  cause,  and  doubt  not 
the  right  party  will  gather  round  you,  with  the  right  man  at . 
its  head.  Ideas  are  omnipotent ;  bring  out  the  true  idea, 
it  will  choose  its  leader,  and  organize  its  party.  If  the 
democratic  party,  so  called,  adhere  to  the  democratic 
idea,  if  it  continue  to  show  that  it  has  in  its  keeping,  a 
sacred  cause,  a  cause  dear  to  Humanity,  and  which  ought 
to  prevail,  it  may  rest  assured  of  complete  success. 

If  it  be  asked,  which  of  the  two  parties  that  now  di- 
vide the  country  will  succeed  ?  we  answer,  truth  and  jus- 
tice reign,  and  they  have  decreed  that  tin's  shall  be  the 
land  of  freedom  ;  and  the  party  which  best  represents  the 
cause  of  freedom  will  triumph.  The  party  which  best 
represents  this  cause  is,  in  our  judgment,  the  party  which 
calls  itself  democratic.  Since  it  has  fallen  back  on  first 


WASHINGTON  S    OPINION    OP    PAPER   MONEY.         42? 

principles,  it  has  come  into  harmony  with  the  mighty 
spirit  of  Freedom  now  agitating  the  world ;  and  we  doubt 
not  its  success.  Through  it  now  speaks  the  voice  of 
eternal  principle,  which  is  the  voice  of  the  people ;  and 
the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God ;  and  when 
God  speaks,  who  dare  deny  that  he  will  be  heard  and 
obeyed  ? 


WASHINGTON'S  OPINION  OF  PAPER  MONEY, 

CONTAINED    IN    A    LETTER   TO    T.    STONE.* 

Mount  Vernon,  February  27,  1787. 
DEAR  SIR, 

YOUR  favor  of  the  30th  ultimo  came  duly  to  hand.  To 
give  an  opinion  in  a  cause  of  so  much  importance  as  that, 
which  has  warmly  agitated  the  two  branches  of  your  le- 
gislature, and  which,  from  the  appeal  that  is  made,  is 
likely  to  create  great  and  perhaps  dangerous  divisions,  is 
rather  a  delicate  matter  ;  but,  as  this  diversity  of  opinion 
is  on  a  subject  which  has,  I  believe,  occupied  the  minds 
of  most  men,  and  as  my  sentiments  thereon  have  been 
fully  and  decidedly  expressed  long  before  the  Assembly 
either  of  Maryland  or  this  state  was  convened,  I  do  not 
scruple  to  declare  that,  if  I  had  a  voice  in  your  legisla- 
ture, it  would  have  been  given  decidedly  against  a  paper 
emission  upon  the  general  principles  of  its  utility  as  a 
representative,  and  the  necessity  of  it  as  a  medium. 

To  assign  reasons  for  this  opinion  would  be  as  unne- 
cessary as  tedious.  The  ground  has  been  so  often  trod, 
that  a  place  hardly  remains  untouched.  In  a  word,  the 
necessity  arising  from  a  want  of  specie  is  represented  as 
greater  than  it  really  is.  I  contend  that  it  is  by  the  sub- 
stance, not  with  the  shadow  of  a  thing,  we  are  to  be  bene- 
fited. The  wisdom  of  man,  in  my  humble  opinion,  can- 
not at  this  time  devise  a  plan  by  which  the  credit  of  paper 
ley  would  be  long  supported ;  consequently  deprecia 

*  Member  of  the  Senate  of  Maryland. 


428  THE    TRUB    AMERICAN. 

tion  keeps  pace  with  the  quantity  of  the  emission,  and 
articles,  for  which  it  is  exchanged,  rise  in  a  greater  ratio 
than  the  sinking  value  of  the  money.  Wherein,  then,  is 
the  farmer,  the  planter,  the  artisan  benefited  ?  The 
debtor  may  be,  because,  as  I  have  observed,  he  gives  the 
shadow  in  lieu  of  the  substance;  and,  in  proportion  to 
his  gain,  the  creditor  or  the  body  politic  suffers.  Whe- 
ther it  be  a  legal  tender  or  not,  it  will,  as  has  been  ob- 
served very  truly,  leave  no  alternative.  It  must  be  that 
or  nothing.  An  evil  equally  great  is,  the  door  it  imme- 
diately opens  for  speculation,  by  which  the  least  design- 
ing, and  perhaps  most  valuable,  part  of  the  community 
are  preyed  upon  by  the  more  knowing  and  crafty  specu- 
lators. 

But,  contrary  to  my  intention  and  declaration,  I  am 
offering  reasons  in  support  of  my  opinion ;  reasons  too, 
which  of  all  others  are  least  pleasing  to  the  advocate  for 
paper  money.  I  shall  therefore  only  observe  generally, 
that  so  many  people  have  suffered  by  former  emissions, 
that,  like  a  burnt  child  who  dreads  the  fire,  no  person  will 
touch  it  who  can  possibly  avoid  it.  The  natural  conse- 
quence of  which  will  be,  that  the  specie,  which  remains 
unexportetf,  will  be  instantly  locked  up. 

With  great  esteem  and  regard,  I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 
GEO.  WASHINGTON 


•F* 


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